John Swinney has been accused of having an 'irony deficiency' after claiming it would be a 'dereliction of duty' if he scrapped his foreign trips.
The First Minister said he makes 'no apology' for his overseas visits. His recent trip to India happened days after UK Government ministers were there to promote Scottish exports including whisky and salmon.
He accused critics of having 'no understanding of the importance of going out and proactively selling ourselves to new and emerging markets around the world' and claimed that failing to do so 'is worse than an absence of ambition, it is a complete dereliction of duty'.
He also accused the UK Government of marketing Scotland as 'North Britain' as he insisted he 'makes no apology for taking every opportunity for selling Scotland's many strengths overseas'.
Mr Swinney also came under fire for charging taxpayers £45,000 for business class flights for him and two close aides when he travelled to the United States to attend Scotland's opening World Cup fixture in June.
Tory MP Harriet Cross, the Shadow Scottish Secretary, argued Mr Swinney should not have gone to India.
India's House Speaker Om Birla with John Swinney during the First Minister's recent foreign trip
She said: 'Swinney must have an irony deficiency. What is a complete dereliction of duty is his obsession with independence and desperate attempts to pretend he's a world leader while Scotland's NHS is in permanent crisis mode, educational standards continue to plummet, and hard-pressed islanders are still waiting on ferries.'
A Labour source said: 'India has cut its tariff on Scotch whisky thanks to a deal struck by the UK Government.
'If John Swinney can find "North Britain" on the label, he's been flying in business class too long.'
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