Government on Monday distanced itself from the reported meeting of Ved Pratap Vaidik journalist with 26/11 attack accused Hafiz Saeed in Pakistan, saying it had “not sanctioned” it and asserted there is no change in its stand on the terror mastermind.
It also said that “no track-2 or track-3 diplomacy” is involved and for the government, “Hafiz is a terrorist”.
Congress leader Digvijay Singh raised in Rajya Sabha the issue of Mr. Vaidik meeting Saeed and asked if the government had sanctioned it, leading to uproar.
Government has nothing to do with “directly, indirectly or even remotely” with any journalist meeting Saeed, Union Minister Arun Jaitley responded, adding “government has not sanctioned permission to anyone for meeting him (Saeed).”
“For the government, there is no change of stand as far Hafiz is concerned. For India, Hafiz is an accused in the terror attack. He is a terrorist who conspired to attack India,” Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar told reporters outside Parliament.
Reports said Mr. Vaidik had met Saeed in Lahore on July 2 while touring Pakistan with a group of journalists and politicians invited by a peace research institute.