“We had no business to put ourselves in such positions where we can be embarrassed”, he said, wondering why were no guarantees sought by the Indian government before the Home Minister visited Pakistan. “Rather, the minister followed a planned move to unsettle the Indian minister’s overtures”, the envoy said, contending that the Indian External Affairs Ministry’s statement issued before Rajnath’s arrival had already scuttled the moot. “I also left. I have no complaints or grudges as I had not gone there to have lunch”, Rajnath Singh told the Rajya Sabha.
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The Minister said that according to the original plan, he had to reach the hotel by road from Rawalpindi airbase, but it changed later and security officers chose to use helicopter.
After it announced withholding $300 million military aid to Islamabad, the United States has urged Pakistan to target all militant groups and not adopt a “selective approach” to combating terror.
Singh said dark clouds of terrorism have engulfed not just South Asia but the entire world.
“A terrorist in one nation can not be a martyr or freedom fighter for anyone”, Rajnath Singh said, referring to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s remarks describing the militant commander as a “martyr”.
The Home Minister also skipped the lunch being hosted by Khan after the meeting as the host had left the venue. “(But) the bad taste created during the summit has damaged the country as well as the prime minister”, observed another senior PML-N leader, who was of the view that Nisar’s speech was not in line with the policy statement of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
But India dismissed the “blackout” controversy over Singh’s speech as “misleading”, suggesting only host country ministers’ remarks are aired.
Singh said that all the Indian PMs, irrespective of party affiliations, have done their best to improve relations with neighbours, but Pakistan’s response has not been positive. “May God give sense to all”, he said evoking laughter in the House.
“A terrorist in one nation can not be a martyr or freedom fighter for anyone”, Singh said.
Home Minister praised the unity seen in the House on this issue.
Even the day Rajnath Singh landed at Rawalpindi, goons of Hafiz Saeed were showing a typical defeatist attitude with fake protests and demonstrations, forgetting the jihad they are fanning against India is eating away Pakistani Muslims in the highest number, making it a Jihad factory using poor, illiterate and backward people as fodder for their nefarious designs. The leaks showed Sharif’s three children were among Pakistanis who own offshore assets worth millions of dollars.
Later, the Home Minister lunched in his hotel.
Home Minister Singh said that Since I was giving speech, I did not know whether it was live telecast or not.
“Terrorism is obviously a reality in both countries, and in order to effectively confront it, they need to work together”.
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As he briefed the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on his visit, opposition lawmakers rallied behind the government and condemned Pakistan over the treatment meted out to Rajnath Singh there.
