Call off talks with Pak,says BJP

Taking strong exception to Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshis irresponsible utterances and jibes at his Indian counterpart S M Krishna,the BJP on Friday asked the government to call off the dialogue process with Pakistan....

Taking strong exception to Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshis irresponsible utterances and jibes at his Indian counterpart S M Krishna,the BJP on Friday asked the government to call off the dialogue process with Pakistan. The main opposition used the opportunity to play the nationalist card and run down the governments foreign policy approach towards Pakistan. It also took potshots at the External Affairs Minister.

For the BJP,which has been critical of the governments decision to resume talks with Pakistan without eliciting a firm commitment to hunt down and punish the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks,the Krishna-Qureshi talks outcome provided that ideal we told you so moment. The party went hammer and tongs against Qureshi in full display of its belligerent stance against talks with Pakistan.

Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj led the BJPs charge. The Pakistan Foreign Minister doesnt know the ABC of diplomacy,she told The Indian Express and pointed out that it was not the first time Islamabad insulted India. The time has come to call off such dialogue with Pakistan as it is being held at the cost of Indias self-respect. The government said it was disappointing. It was not only disappointing but insulting to the nation, she said.

Story continues below this ad

Swaraj recollected Pakistan Foreign Secretary Salman Bashirs piece of literature snub to the terror dossiers handed over by India. The same story has been repeated this time. Why should India bear insults again and again, she said.

Her party colleague and former external affairs minister Yashwant Sinha said Qureshi does not deserve to be the foreign minister or for that matter even a second secretary in the diplomatic mission. He suggested that Qureshis provocative comments would not have come without the knowledge of the Pakistani PM and President.

We deeply condemn the utterly irresponsible comments of the Pakistan Foreign Minister and especially against the External Affairs Minister. It seems the basic diplomatic courtesy is not in the grain of Qureshi, BJP chief spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said. He targeted Krishna for remaining silent when Qureshi compared Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed with Home Secretary G K Pillai. We deeply condemn the utterances of Qureshi and regret the silence of the External Affairs Minister, Prasad said. We would like to remind Mr Krishna that dignity and etiquette is alright but the countrys pride is equally important.