Home minister P. Chidambaram on Wednesday is believed to have expressed his displeasure, when environment minister Jairam Ramesh met him to clarify his position. Mr Ramesh was under fire from Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his remarks against the home ministry’s policies on China. In Beijing, he described home ministry’s policy on China as “paranoid and alarmist”.
The environment minister, who emerged out of Mr Chidambaram’s room after nearly 15 minutes, refused to speak to the waiting scribes. Mr Chidambaram also left his office soon after to attended a meeting in the finance ministry. The home minister, however, looked relaxed and smiled at the waiting scribes.
He also did not speak on the issue. During the parleys, Mr Ramesh was reportedly told that if he had any reservations about the policies of the home ministry and the security establishment, he should have personally written to the ministry instead of going public on such a sensitive issue. The Jairam-Chidambaram meeting, a damage control exercise by Mr Ramesh, came after Dr Singh reprimanded the environment minister over his remarks made in Beijing stating that the home ministry was “overly defensive” and “alarmist” in its approach towards the entry of Chinese companies in India.
His remarks gave rise to speculations of a possible divide in the Union Cabinet over India’s China policy. Mr Ramesh talked about the India-China warmth.
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Digvijay is ready to express regret
Age Correspondent
New Delhi
May 12: AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh has said he was ready to express regret if his criticism of home minister P. Chidambaram’s handling of Maoist problem has hurt him deeply.
“If it has hurt, I am prepared to say sorry and withdraw my remarks...He is a friend of mine, we have worked together and I would not like to hurt his feelings...I had made an honest comment,” Mr Singh said. In a newspaper article last month, Mr Singh had called Mr Chidambaram as “rigid” and “intellectually arrogant”.