Unfazed by India's attack, the Pakistan foreign minister, Mr Shah Mahmood Qureshi, has justified his statement comparing the home secretary, Mr G.K. Pillai, with Jamaat-ud Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed, saying it was "balanced and objective".
Breaking his silence on the issue since his controversial July 15 remarks, Mr Qureshi said there was "no justification" for Pillai to make the "unhelpful" comments and contended that it spoiled the atmospherics for his talks with the external affairs minister, Mr S.M. Krishna.
"Mr Pillai's statement was, doubtless, uncalled for and off the mark," the Pakistani minister told PTI in an email interview while referring to the Indian official's remarks that ISI was "controlling and coordinating" the Mumbai attacks from the beginning till the end.
"There is no justification for government officials to make unhelpful public remarks on the eve of the foreign ministers' meeting," he said.
Mr Qureshi, while responding to a question on Saeed's vitriolic comments against India at his July 15 joint press conference with Krishna, said both sides should refrain from negative speeches that vitiate the atmosphere and then asked, "on the eve of this dialogue tell me to what extent" Mr Pillai's remarks help.
Though Mr Krishna did not react to this comparison of Mr Pillai with Saeed at that moment, he termed it as "ridiculous" after his return to India. Mr Qureshi was also slammed by the political parties, including BJP and Congress.
Saeed is blamed by India for a series of terror attacks, including the 26/11 strike, besides inciting jehadis to target this country.
On criticism of his comments by Krishna and others, Mr Qureshi said, "My statement was balanced and objective."
He said he was "responding to a question and trying to make a point that there were elements on both sides of the border who would not like to see our two countries develop normal relations and, through their vitriolic statements, try to vitiate the bilateral atmosphere."