By IANS,
Kolkata : Slamming the government over hosting a lunch for Pakistan Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf during his private visit to India, BJP president Rajnath Singh Monday demanded that diplomatic relations with the neighbouring nation be scaled down in the wake of the brutal killing of two Indian solders.
He also asked the central government to halt the confidence building measures (CBMs) with the neighbouring country for the time being unless it made a commitment that Pakistani soil would not be allowed to be used for terrorist activities against India.
“Our external affair minister (Salman Khurshid) welcomed Pakistan prime minister, who visited Jaipur. We learnt that the Pakistani prime minister was offered Biriyani. We condemn it, especially after the heinous incident of Pakistani solders killing our two jawans,” the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief said here.
“We demand that the level of diplomatic relationship with Pakistan be scaled down. CBM should also be stopped until and unless Pakistan says that it would not allow any terrorist activity against our country on its soil,” Singh said.
Ashraf, who was on a private visit to the Ajmer shrine of Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti, was hosted by Khurshid over lunch. But no official talks were held between the two sides.
The Pakistani prime minister’s visit comes two months after the cross-border ceasefire violations that led to heightened tensions between the two neighbours after Pakistan army killed two Indian soldiers, one of whom was beheaded, in January this year.