British Prime Minister David Cameron made an extremely impolite observation that Nigeria and Afghanistan are two of the “most corrupt” countries in the world. He was caught on camera making such observations to Queen Elizabeth just before an anti-corruption summit that he was hosting.

This is not the first time that he has made adverse remarks about another country. Several months ago, he visited Sri Lanka and spoke adversely about its government and accused them of indulging in human rights violations. He ignored the fact that Sri Lanka underwent an ethnic war, including rebels fighting against the Sri Lankan troops. The government had no other alternative than fighting with the rebels to protect the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka.

Without appreciating such realities, Cameron branded the Sri Lankan government as if it was totally inhumane.

In the past, the British government has also indulged in several wars, including it’s recent participation in launching an attack on Iraq and Afghanistan. As a result, hundreds of people have been killed. In such cases, Cameron would claim that Britain acted as a liberator, while in Sri Lanka, they were branded as human rights violators. Is it not hypocritical?

There is no doubt that huge corruption exists in Nigeria and the present President himself admitted that on several occasions and won the election last year on the basis of vowing to fight corruption. Is Britain really a country free of corruption?

Tony Blair, former Prime Minister of the UK was accused of being associated with financial links between a telecommunications company and his wife’s foundation, which is a corrupt practice. What does Cameron have to say on this? In addition, Cameron himself was accused of hiding his personal wealth that was raised by his late father’s offshore fund, which was mentioned in the Panama Papers leak.

If he was really concerned about corruption, Cameron should first eliminate it in his own country. The recent refusal of the British government to accede to the request of India to deport Vijay Mallya from Britain is a ready and immediate example that shows that Cameron has double standards. Someone needs to advise Cameron not to be careless in commenting on other countries and leave people to tackle corruption in the way they deem fit.

— The reader is an Indian founder trustee of an NGO based in Chennai, India