By IANS,
New Delhi : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Friday criticised External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna for not defending India’s Home Secretary G.K. Pillai when Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi attacked him for his remarks on the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
“The foreign minister of Pakistan chose to attack India’s home secretary. I regret he was not defended by India’s foreign minister,” BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters, a day after India and Pakistan foreign ministers held talks in Islamabad.
The almost seven-hour meeting ended with no common ground but the two sides reiterated their known positions on thorny issues such as Kashmir. Krishna was on a three-day visit to Pakistan.
When asked about Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed’s hate speeches in Pakistan, Qureshi countered by bringing up Pillai and his allegations on the eve of the external minister’s visit that Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI was involved in the 26/11 Mumbai strike.
“Tell me, to what extent it helped (our dialogue)? It was uncalled for,” Qureshi said.
BJP spokesperson Prasad said Qureshi was making an issue out of Pillai’s comment, which was nothing but a statement of Lashkar-e-Taiba operative David Headley that the ISI had a role in the Mumbai attack.
“They have no reply or content but they are comparing it (Pillai’s remarks) with Hafiz Saeed without taking any action,” Prasad said.