India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on 10 July issued an unusually sharp statement against Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, calling his recent comments mocking Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s overseas travel “irresponsible and regrettable” and saying they “do not behove the state authority.” The ministry added that the national government “disassociates itself from such unwarranted comments that undermine India’s ties with friendly countries.” Mann, speaking to reporters in Chandigarh earlier the same day, derided the prime minister for visiting what he described as “tiny nations” and invented names such as “Magnesia” and “Galveaisa,” claiming the countries had populations of “10,000.” He also questioned the value of foreign honours conferred on Modi. The remarks drew immediate backlash from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, with lawmaker Praveen Khandelwal saying the chief minister was treating politics like stand-up comedy. Modi returned on 10 July from a 2–10 July tour of Ghana, Trinidad and Tobago, Argentina, Brazil and Namibia. During the trip he received four national decorations, including Ghana’s Officer of the Order of the Star and Brazil’s Grand Collar of the National Order of the Southern Cross. According to the MEA, the prime minister has made roughly 90 foreign trips to 78 countries and collected 27 international awards since taking office in 2014. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said maintaining respectful discourse was essential to safeguarding diplomatic relationships, especially with partners in the Global South. The episode underscores intensifying political sparring over Modi’s foreign engagements ahead of the monsoon session of Parliament, which opens on 21 July.