Former External Affairs Minister and senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid Friday said that his lecture in Islamabad that drew the ire of the BJP was “reasonable” and the people disparaging him hadn’t heard his “entire” speech, in which he had also asked Pakistan “to give back Kashmir.”
“The first thing one should do before commenting on somebody’s statement or a lecture is read it and I don’t think they have done that. But if they are attacking even after reading it, then it’s worse. To read and not understand is even worse. I have said this before that in my lecture I have demanded that Pakistan must give up Kashmir,” Mr. Khurshid told reporters here.
Two days ago, the BJP lashed out at Mr. Khurshid for saying in his lecture at the Jinnah Institute that India didn’t reciprocate well to Pakistan’s Prime Minister with regard to tackling terrorism and striking a long-lasting peace deal.
“I had also said that India has given proof to Pakistan about their complicity in terrorism, which must come to an end so that the future is without terrorism. I said that I’m disappointed that the attempts by their Prime Minister have not been supported by our government,” Mr. Khurshid said.
‘Sharif wants peace’Mr. Khurshid appreciated the recent efforts made by Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif saying that he is interested in making peace with India but can’t because the people around him seem uninterested.
“So, if you can’t make this reasonable statement, then you can’t say anything at all,” he said.
Mr. Khurshid had also said that Prime Minister Modi wasn’t keen on entertaining the people who disagreed with his views and criticised the BJP government for taking a tough line against Pakistan. “When the Congress was in power, the BJP had been pressuring it to normalise ties with Pakistan,” he said.
The BJP dubbed Mr. Khurshid “IS propagandist” and ridiculed the Congress for not condemning his remarks.
