Joining the ranks with the Opposition in blaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Lahore diplomacy for the Pathankot air base attack, BJP ally Shiv Sena on Tuesday said it had warned the PM not to trust
Joining the ranks with the Opposition in blaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Lahore diplomacy for the Pathankot air base attack, BJP ally Shiv Sena on Tuesday said it had warned the PM not to trust the neighbouring country. The Sena said while Mr Modi is “trying to unite the world”, time has now come for him to concentrate on India. Senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha also criticised Modi government’s foreign policy on Pakistan, saying India should call off planned talks with the neighbouring country in the wake of the Pathankot terror attack. He also described India-Pakistan relationship as “accident-prone”.
The Congress accused Mr Modi of reversing India’s foreign policy from “outcomes to optics”. The ruling BJP lashed out at the Congress for criticising government over Pathakot attack, saying its “shameful” statements will boost the morale of people with “anti-national mindset”, but parried queries on castigation from ally Shiv Sena. While questioning NDA government’s “inconsistent” Pakistan policy, the AAP asked why the government could not avert loss of soldiers’ lives when it had “pinpointed” information about the plot.
The CPI(M) condemned the Pathankot attack and insisted that the Centre must continue holding parleys with Pakistan to “foil designs” of terror outfits to disrupt the recently-resumed peace talks between the two countries.
Yashwant Sinha said NDA is doing the same mistake as UPA government did and it is not the “BJP policy.”
“Seven of our soldiers get martyred in return for a cup of tea with Nawaz Sharif...The Prime Minister was in Lahore only last week as a guest of his counterpart Nawaz Sharif. At that time, we had warned him not to trust Pakistan... See how we have been betrayed today,” said the Sena in its mouthpiece Saamana. Mr Modi had paid a surprise visit to Lahore and met the Pakistan Premier on December 25.
The Sena also said that had the Congress been in power today, there would have been demands to strike at Pakistan and avenge the deaths of soldiers, but now nothing is being done about the Pathankot attack in Punjab last Saturday in which seven security personnel were killed.
Accusing the PM of reversing India’s foreign policy from “outcomes to optics”, Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma asked as to what assurances Mr Modi received from Pakistan to prompt his “surprise trip” to Lahore.
