TV celebrity and former army officer Gaurav Arya has sparked a outrage and a brief diplomatic row after he called Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi a ‘son of a pig’ on air. Araghchi was in India on an official visit on 8 May and met President Draupadi Mumu and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in New Delhi.
Arya, as seen in the now-viral video, criticises Araghchi for visiting Pakistan before traveling to India for talks amid escalating tensions between India and Pakistan after the deadly terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly civilians, on 22 April.
“He was in Pakistan and met top leadership including Shehbaz Sharif.Then he came to India. This man, this ‘son of a pig’ had to come India when Pahalgam attack held. He told Jaishankar that Iran was with you,” Arya is heard in the video. He even wrote ‘Pig’ on the screen showing a news item about Iran politician’s recent visit to India and Pakistan.
India and Pakistan decided to stop firing after agreeing on a ‘bilateral arrangement’ on Saturday. Pakistan, however, violated the arrangement along the LoC within hours of the announcement.
The clip quickly circulated online, evoked a public response from the Iranian embassy in New Delhi. “Respect for guests is a long-standing tradition in Iranian culture. We Iranians consider our guests ‘beloved of God. What about you?” the embassy said in a post on X.
Following the Iranian reaction, the Indian embassy in Tehran issued its own clarification saying “The Embassy of India in Iran wishes to clarify that the person in this video is a private Indian citizen.”
“His comments do not reflect the official position of the Indian government, which finds the disrespectful language used in the video inappropriate,” the embassy wrote.
Major Gaurav Arya (Retd) popular Indian TV personality with nearly two million followers on X. His program “Chankaya Dialogue” also has over four million subscribers on YouTube.
“I am not a Pakistani that my government will take action against me for speaking out, specially when it is the TRUTH. If Iran’s foreign minister has any problem, he can discuss it with Gen Asim Munir,” he said reacting to the row in a post on X.
Araghchi’s India Visit
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in India on Thursday morning. Araghchi’s India visit comes amid tensions between Pakistan and India following the Pahalgam terror attack and the counter strikes on terror camps in ‘Operation Sindoor’ by India. The visit was planned before the Pahalgam attack.
Respect for guests is a long-standing tradition in Iranian culture. We Iranians consider our guests ‘beloved of God. What about you?
His comments do not reflect the official position of the Indian government, which finds the disrespectful language used in the video inappropriate.
Araghchi was in Pakistan a few days ago where he met top leadership including Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
On 5 May, Araghchi urged India and Pakistan to “exercise restraint” and prevent an escalation after holding talks with Pakistan’s top leadership amid tensions between the two neighbouring countries following the Pahalgam attack.
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