S Jaishankar Explains How Sam Pitroda's Remarks Stem From A "Colonial Mindset"

"Because that is actually the colonial way of trying to define India. That you know, it took some outside force; it took some external force or some inorganic effort to put a country together. I think we have a natural organic unity," he said.

Sam Pitroda's controversial comments were not a slip of the tongue but revealed the mindset of his Congress party and that of the people he has mentored, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said in a veiled reference to Rahul Gandhi.

Sam Pitroda resigned as the party's overseas unit chief after stoking a major controversy this week with his remarks during a podcast where he cited ethnic and racial identities like Chinese, Africans, Arabs and Whites to describe the physical appearance of Indians from different parts of the country.

"I think what he was saying probably is what is the talk in the circles which he inhabits, possibly shared by people he has mentored, and I think there were two parts of it which were troubling for me," Mr Jaishankar told PTI in an exclusive interview at the news agency's headquarters late Thursday.