In a scathing post on X (formerly Twitter), Congress MP Jairam Ramesh called Prime Minister Narendra Modi the "Super Premium Frequent Flier PM" as he set out on his five-nation tour, starting in Ghana on July 2. Ramesh has used the same phrase twice in as many days, accusing PM Modi of running away from urgent domestic problems.
Ramesh claimed that instead of tackling important domestic issues, the prime minister is opting to travel overseas. "The so-called toughs get going when things get hard." Adding that Modi is "running away" from at least four significant issues plaguing the nation, he wrote, "The Super Premium Frequent Flier PM is off on a 5-nation, 8-day jaunt." He specifically brought attention to the ongoing ethnic violence in Manipur, a state the PM has not visited since the crisis began.
Ramesh also took advantage of the occasion to highlight the close historical ties between Ghana and India, especially the friendship and shared ideology between Jawaharlal Nehru and Kwame Nkrumah, the country's founding leader. He pointed out that this relationship influenced diplomatic and cultural exchanges between the two countries and started even before Ghana gained its independence in 1957.
Kwame Nkrumah, an iconic figure, dominated Ghanaian and African politics until the middle of the 1960s. He and Jawaharlal Nehru had a close bond that predated Ghana's independence in March 1957, according to Ramesh.
He pointed out that the Indian High Commission, also known as India House, is situated on a well-known road in Ghana's capital, Accra, which bears Nehru's name. In exchange, a road in the diplomatic enclave of New Delhi is named Kwame Nkrumah Marg, demonstrating the two countries' respect for one another.
Ramesh re-examined Nkrumah's 17-day state visit to India from December 22, 1958, to January 8, 1959, which further highlighted the closeness of Ghana-India relations. During this time, the Ghanaian leader made a number of trips, stopping in places like New Delhi, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Jhansi, Agra, Bengaluru, Mysuru, and Pune. Ramesh underlined, "He spent five days in Bengaluru and Mysuru alone."
Nkrumah visited several significant Indian establishments during this trip, including the National Defence Academy, the Bhakra Nangal Dam, the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, the National Physical Laboratory, and the Trombay Atomic Energy Establishment. One outcome of this visit, Ramesh noted, was India's support for the formation of the Ghanaian Air Force.
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Additionally, he commended Nehru's vision in establishing the Department of African Studies at Delhi University in 1955—prior to the majority of African countries gaining their independence. Ramesh echoed the late Prime Minister's belief that understanding Africa's history, issues, and people was crucial for India, citing Nehru's speech from the department's inauguration.
"It is so evidently necessary and desirable for people in India to study Africa," Nehru had stated. However, you risk failing if you disregard the study of Africa. I get a strong sense of humanity's atonement when I think about Africa because of the way the continent and its people have been treated for centuries. It's as if the rest of humanity would offer prayers for it.
In his post, Ramesh compared Nehru's diplomatic legacy with Modi's international travel, arguing that the latter developed strong international ties with historical substance while the former is travelling during a politically delicate period.
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