Wall Street Journal ad claims Sitharaman, among others, made India “unsafe” to invest

While Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman was in Washington for the annual International Monetary Fund meeting, reputed finance publication, the Wall Street Journal, could be seen sporting a full-page advertisement claiming that Sitaraman, alongside her fellow members of the BJP-led Indian Government and other Government officials, was the reason for India becoming an “unsafe place to invest.”

Apart from Sitharaman, Antrix chairman Rakesh Sasibhushan, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, Additional Solicitor General N. Venkatraman, Justices Hemant Gupta and V. Ramasubramanian of the Supreme Court, CBI DSP Ashish Pareek, ED director Sanjay Kumar Mishra, deputy director A. Sadiq Mohamed Naijnar and assistant director R. Rajesh, and special judge Chandra Shekhar were all named as “Modi’s Magitsky 11” in the advertisement that had a QR code placed at the bottom of the page that linked to US-based ‘Educational Foundation’ Frontiers of Freedom.

“These Modi Government officials have decimated the rule of law by weaponizing the institutions of the state to settle scores with political and business rivals, making India unsafe for investors… Under Modi, a decline in the rule of law has made India a dangerous place to invest. If you are an investor in India, you might be next,” stated the advertisement.

George Landrith, the President of Frontiers of Foundation, took to Twitter to second the advertisement writing, “Check out pg. A8A of the @WSJ DC edition today for @Fof_Liberty’s newest ad exposing #IndiasMagnitsky11 & @FinMinIndia

@NirmalaSitharaman ‘s actions that have decimated the rule of law & investment climate in India.”

On the Other hand, Senior advisor for the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Kanchan Gupta, took to Twitter to speak out on the matter calling out Ramachandra Vishwanathan, the Ex-CEO of Devas for allegedly running the advertisement. Gupta stated, “Shameful weaponization of American media by fraudsters. This shockingly vile ad targeting #India and its Government appeared in @WSJ Do you know who is behind this and similar ads? This ad campaign is being run by fugitive Ramachandra Vishwanathan, who was the CEO of Devas.”