-
India’s law minister says Islamabad’s statement aimed at bailing out Congress
-
Congress asks Modi to say something about state instead of dragging Pakistan into elections
ISLAMABAD/NEW DELHI: A day after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the Congress party of colluding with Pakistan to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Gujarat polls, the Foreign Office in Islamabad hit back and asked not to be dragged into Indian electoral battles.
In a statement on Monday, the Foreign Office said that Modi’s allegations – of a recent ‘secret’ three-hour meeting attended by Pakistani and Indian opposition party officials – were fabricated conspiracies, which are utterly baseless and irresponsible.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Modi claimed a meeting took place recently in (now suspended) Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar’s house that was attended by Pakistan’s high commissioner, its former foreign affairs minister, former Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh and former vice-president Hamid Ansari.
Narendra Modi
Last week, the Indian premier accused Aiyar of putting out a hit on him while on a visit to Pakistan to ensure peace between Islamabad and New Delhi. The Congress hit back at Prime Minister Modi, saying the ‘real colluder’ with Pakistan was the BJP, whose government gave Pakistani officials access to the country’s top air force base in Pathankot after a terror attack there.
“If he (Modi) wants to fight the Gujarat elections in Pakistan, I want to ask who invited people from Pakistan’s intelligence agency to come to one of India’s most important defence bases in Pathankot,” asked RS Surjewala, the spokesperson for the Congress. He was referring to Pakistan’s joint investigation team being given access to the Pathankot airbase in March 2016.
Following Pakistan’s Foreign Office statement, India’s Minister for Law Ravi Shankar Prasad seemed to suggest that it was aimed at bailing out the Congress. “Today a very curious statement has been released by the Foreign Office in Islamabad condemning Pakistan being dragged into India’s election and stated that Indians must learn to fight the elections on their own,” he said.
“Yes, I wish to tell Pakistan that Indians are capable of contesting India’s democracy on their own as they do… Narendra Modi is a popularly elected prime minister and so is the BJP,” Prasad said.
“Please stop giving us lessons. We are proud of India’s democracy,” he said. “We are very productive of India’s democracy and totally condemn this statement from Pakistan,” he said.
Prasad said it was curious that Congress leader Anand Sharma had denied any meeting taking place at the residence of Aiyar.
“And in today’s newspapers… It is very evident as to who attended the meeting including from Pakistan and even Manmohan Singh went there in the get-together,” he said. “Why a wrong statement was made by Anand Sharma completely denying that no such meeting took place,” he questioned.
“Now it is whose turn to apologise? But what is curious is that this happens and Pakistan comes out with an official statement. In many ways seeking to bail out Congress party. Is it too suspicious? Surely, the country will draw its own conclusion,” he added.
RAHUL GANDHI: Congress chief Rahul Gandhi hit out at Prime Minister Modi for dragging Pakistan into the Gujarat elections, saying that rather than talking about foreign countries in his election campaign speeches in Gujarat, the prime minister should say something about the state.
Rahul Gandhi
“The prime minister talks sometimes about Pakistan and sometimes about China and Japan. Modiji, this is the election for the future of Gujarat. Talk something about Gujarat too,” he said while addressing an election rally in Banaskantha district.
Since the last 2-3 days, Rahul said that the Indian prime minister has left behind all other issues and talks about only two things. “During his entire speech, half of the time he talks about Congress. You [Modi] claim that the country has been Congress-free then why are you giving so much prominence to the opposition party in your speeches,” he questioned.
Accusing Modi of maintaining silence over the development of Gujarat, Rahul said that despite it being election time in Gujarat, the prime minister was not talking about development of the last 22 years under the BJP government. “It seems that he has lost faith in the Gujarat people. Speak about development at least for two-three minutes,” he said in a jibe.
MANMOHAN: India’s former prime minister Manmohan Singh also said in a statement that he sincerely hoped that Prime Minister Modi would apologise to the nation for suggesting that he (Manmohan) and others held a ‘secret’ meeting with the visiting Pakistani officials at Mani Shankar Aiyar’s residence to influence the outcome of the Gujarat elections.
“I am deeply pained and anguished by the falsehood and canards being spread to score political points in a lost cause by none less than Prime Minister Modi. Fearing imminent defeat in Gujarat, desperation of the Indian prime minister to hurl every abuse and latch on to every straw is palpable. Sadly and regrettably, Modi is setting a dangerous precedent by his insatiable desire to tarnish every constitutional office, including that of a former prime minister and the army chief,” he said.
He said that the Congress party needed no sermons on nationalism from a party and the prime minister, whose compromised track record on fighting terrorism is well known,” he said. Modi had gone to Pakistan uninvited after the attacks in Udhampur and Gurdaspur,” he pointed out. “Let him also tell the country the reason for inviting the Pakistani officials to our strategic air base in Pathankot to investigate a terror attack,” he said.
