Slamming the government over its Pakistan policy, senior BJP leader L.K. Advani is of the view that New Delhi’s Pakistan policy is “really in a shambles.”
Writing in his blog on the issue, Mr Advani alleged the policy is “completely alienated from public opinion of the day.”
Asserting that “prime purpose” of India’s Pak Policy “must be to force this neighbour of ours to abandon terrorism,” Mr Advani has pointed out that a vital touchstone for judging the government’s handling of foreign affairs has been approach to its western neighbour.
Recalling the “uncompromising” stand of the BJP-led government on the issue of cross-border terrorism that had “forced” then Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf to return “empty-handed” from the Agra Summit in July 2001, Mr Advani has written that presently even within the government ministers have “serious reservations about the policy.”
“Starting with the Prime Minister’s blunder at Sharm-el-Sheikh when he announced delinking the issue of Indo-Pak dialogue from the issue of Pakistan’s cross-border terrorism, to the external affairs minister’s recent performance in Pakistan, never before has India’s Pakistan policy been so completely alienated from public opinion as it is today,” he has written in his blog.
Mr L.K. Advani expressed surprise at external affairs minister S.M. Krishna ignoring his Pakistan counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s attempts at bracketing home secretary G.K. Pillai with JuD chief Hafeez Saeed.
The BJP leader wrote that his surprise turned to outrage with Mr Krishna’s public “admonition” of home secretary’s remarks on the eve of the meeting outlining ISI’s role in the Mumbai terror attacks.