India is being respected in a way which was rare in the past, says Jitendra Singh.

Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Wednesday said those who do not feel proud of U.S. President Donald Trump’s comment that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the father of India do not consider themselves Indians.

India was being respected in a way which was rare in the past, he said on the sidelines of the launch of CPGRAMS (Centralized Public Grievance Redress And Monitoring System) reforms in the Department of Posts.

“People who live abroad are proud today of being Indian. This is happening due to the personality and personal outreach of Prime Minister Modi,” said the Minister of State for Prime Minister’s Office.

On Mr. Trump’s statement, Mr. Singh said he had never heard anything like this from any American President for an Indian Prime Minister.

“If an impartial and bold statement comes from America and its President, then I feel every Indian should feel proud, regardless of his political affiliations with any party or ideology ... This is the first time that an American President has used this kind of words of praise not for an Indian Prime Minister but for any other world leader, and if someone is not proud of this, then maybe he does not consider himself an Indian,” he said.

When pointed out that some Congress leaders have stated that there could be only one father of the nation, he said that for this, the Congress would have to argue with Mr. Trump.

Criticising Pakistan for promoting terrorism, he said “as far as terrorism and Pakistan’s role in advancing terrorism is concerned, foreign countries which earlier did not buy India’s narrative of Pakistan’s involvement in terrorism are now accepting it and its credit goes to Prime Minister Modi.”