BJP plays down Sushma’s praise of PM’s Bangladesh visit

By IANS,

New Delhi: Asserting that criticism of the government is not made on foreign soil, the Bharatiya Janata Party Thursday played down party leader Sushma Swaraj’s praise of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s recent Bangladesh tour.


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“During visit to a foreign country, the government is not criticised. This is part of diplomacy,” BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar told IANS.

Sushma Swaraj during a visit to Singapore earlier this week to deliver a lecture said that relations between India and Bangladesh had strengthened following Manmohan Singh’s visit to that neighbouring country.

Referring to proposed Teesta river water sharing accord which, however, was not signed during the prime minister’s visit to Dhaka, Swaraj said West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee could not join the trip apparently due to some communication gap.

“Since she was not in the delegation, the prime minister thought it would be safe to just keep it aside for a later period… That is not the end, beginning has been very, very good,” Sushma Swaraj said.

However, Swaraj, who is Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, had in New Delhi voiced criticism of the prime minister’s Bangladesh visit soon after his return.

She had said that “internal contradictions” of the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) had impacted the visit and asked the government to come out with details of land boundary agreement reached during the visit.

She said the land boundary agreement had “raised concerns in Assam.”

The BJP also formed a group to study the land swap agreement with Bangladesh and wondered if the decision had the backing of Assam cabinet.

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