The prime minister and I are both aware of which issues are personal and humane and which are political and neither of us believe in confusing the two.

Our reply:George Fernandes deserves plaudits for his full and frank disclosure of the identity of the person referred to in our Delhi Confidential item (‘Why George bit the bullet’, IE, August 20). We must add here that Delhi Confidential items are defined by what our correspondents hear, often in whispers, in corridors of power or in corridors where coming back to power is the most serious business. We are always rigorous about checking what we hear before we publish an item. But of course there will be differences on how to interpret facts, as is the case this time. We also thank Mr Fernandes for telling us that the person in question is R.V. Pandit, who he describes, correctly, as a ‘long term friend of The Indian Express’.