Master Stroke(21.08.18): Why Navjot Singh Sidhu is facing bouncers on political pitch?
ABP News Bureau | 21 Aug 2018 11:19 PM (IST)
The Congress today skirted the issue of Navjot Singh Sidhu hugging the Pakistan Army chief during his visit to Islamabad by terming it a "non-issue" and said the real thing is the relationship between India and Pakistan and the absence of a policy towards the country.
The party also accused the government of raking up the issue to obfuscate its own lack of policy towards Pakistan.
Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make public his letter to new Pakistan premier Imran Khan and clear his stand on whether the government has expressed willingness to resume dialogue despite the red lines put in place in the past four years.
"Navjot Singh Sidhu's decision to go to Pakistan in his personal capacity is actually a non-issue. The real issue is the relationship between India and Pakistan, is the impact of the India-Pakistan stand-off on the larger South Asia and the complete absence of the BJP government's policy towards Pakistan," he told reporters when asked about Sidhu defending his action of hugging the Pak Army chief.
Cricketer-turned-politician Sidhu visited Pakistan last week to attend the swearing-in of Imran Khan as Pakistan's prime minister. The Punjab minister today defended hugging the Pakistan Army chief saying he got caught in the moment after hearing that Sikh pilgrims may get access to a shrine across the border.
Tewari alleged that the BJP government's policy towards Pakistan has "swung from the sublime to the ridiculous" and there has not been any policy till date.
"In the last four years, the NDA-BJP government has no policy towards Pakistan and it has been nothing except U-turns, somersaults and 180-degree turns," he said.
"Navjot Singh Sidhu is not the issue. The issue is the relationship between India and Pakistan. And the reality is that India-Pakistan relations are an extremely complicated and a convulated piece of work," the Congress spokesperson said.
The party also accused the government of raking up the issue to obfuscate its own lack of policy towards Pakistan.
Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make public his letter to new Pakistan premier Imran Khan and clear his stand on whether the government has expressed willingness to resume dialogue despite the red lines put in place in the past four years.
"Navjot Singh Sidhu's decision to go to Pakistan in his personal capacity is actually a non-issue. The real issue is the relationship between India and Pakistan, is the impact of the India-Pakistan stand-off on the larger South Asia and the complete absence of the BJP government's policy towards Pakistan," he told reporters when asked about Sidhu defending his action of hugging the Pak Army chief.
Cricketer-turned-politician Sidhu visited Pakistan last week to attend the swearing-in of Imran Khan as Pakistan's prime minister. The Punjab minister today defended hugging the Pakistan Army chief saying he got caught in the moment after hearing that Sikh pilgrims may get access to a shrine across the border.
Tewari alleged that the BJP government's policy towards Pakistan has "swung from the sublime to the ridiculous" and there has not been any policy till date.
"In the last four years, the NDA-BJP government has no policy towards Pakistan and it has been nothing except U-turns, somersaults and 180-degree turns," he said.
"Navjot Singh Sidhu is not the issue. The issue is the relationship between India and Pakistan. And the reality is that India-Pakistan relations are an extremely complicated and a convulated piece of work," the Congress spokesperson said.