NEW DELHI: The ministry of external affairs Friday urged everyone to be mindful of strong India-Italy ties and the need to be respectful to each other. The remark followed a controversy over Congress member of Parliament Rahul Gandhi as well as party neta Sandeep Dikshit’s jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi on foreign policy that involved Italian PM Giorgia Meloni.“We have strong ties with Italy. Our ties with Italy in recent years have expanded and strengthened in every which way, and it’s important that, as part of diplomatic practice, we strengthen our ties, keeping in mind being respectful of each other. There’s mutual understanding between the two sides,” said spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal.At an event Thursday, Rahul had ridiculed Modi’s handling of foreign policy. The leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha said it had somehow been ingrained in Modi’s mind that foreign policy was all about hugging leaders. He then hugged Dikshit in a bid to demonstrate what govt’s foreign policy was about. “Imagine the ignorance… where did he get the idea…?” he said.Dikshit then said to Rahul, “Ek cheez pooch sakta hoon? Meloni samajh ke toh nahi pakda tha?” Rahul responded, “I have not reached there yet.”
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