BJP leader L K Advani has said that he was against the decision to free terrorists in return for the passengers of the hijacked flight IC-814 in 1999. But what’s more startling is that Advani says he had nothing to do with the decision to send Jaswant Singh with the terrorists to Kandahar. In fact, Advani, who was then the Home Minister, claims he didn’t even know that Jaswant Singh was going until after the decision was taken.

This startling disclosure came in an interview with Shekhar Gupta, Editor-in-Chief, The Indian Express on NDTV’s Walk The Talk programme.

Asked where was the need for Jaswant Singh to go on that plane, Advani said it was a “side issue” and added, “After all, he thought there would be other diplomats also there. And he would be able to answer it best. But I have always said I was not happy with the decision...”

He said that the safety of passengers became the over-riding priority. “Yes, I was not happy with the decision but at the same time the lives of 160 passengers being at stake and the information that we got, which I have mentioned in my book, that they are likely to blow up the plane if government of India does not...”

So why did Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh have to go with the terrorists — a point that the UPA keeps harping on whenever the BJP accuses it of being soft on terror? “We’ve talked about it occasionally but I don’t want to say anything. Let let him say it, whatever he wants to say,” said Advani.

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