PM takes up with Krishna his unnecessary criticism of Pillai

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is understood to have taken up with External Affairs Minister S M Krishna his public criticism of Home Secretary...

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is understood to have taken up with External Affairs Minister S M Krishna his public criticism of Home Secretary G K Pillais remarks on the involvement of the ISI in the 26/11 attack.

Government sources told The Sunday Express that Krishna was told that his public statements,made on July 21,were inappropriate and unnecessary. The PM conveyed the message after the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on Friday morning. The CCS met to discuss Indias strategy on China and Bhutan.

Krishna had told The Indian Express that the timing of Pillais remarks could have waited for my arrival from Pakistan as India-Pakistan talks are too sensitive. He had,however,also said that there was nothing wrong with what Pillai had said,and that Pillai is one of (Indias) finest civil servants.

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In remarks made at the Idea Exchange programme at The Indian Express earlier this month,Pillai had said the ISI… (was) literally controlling and coordinating (the attacks) from the beginning till the end.

In his joint press conference with Krishna in Islamabad on July 15,Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi raised Pillais statement,and compared the Indian Home Secretary with the founder of the Lashkar-e-Toiba,Hafiz Saeed.

Sources said the PM sought an explanation from Pillai through Home Minister P Chidambaram after Krishna complained to him soon after arriving in New Delhi on July 16. Pillai is understood to have replied that LeT operative David Coleman Headleys revelations to the National Investigation Agency,including what he said on the ISIs involvement in 26/11,were already known to Pakistan.