The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday took objection to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh describing his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani as a man of peace.Disagreeing with Dr. Singh's remark on the sidelines of the South Asian Association Regional Conference (SAARC) summit in the Maldives, the former External Affairs Minister and BJP leader, Yashwant Sinha, said the Prime Minister had “erred” in describing Mr. Gilani as a man of peace when Pakistan continued to sponsor cross-border terrorism.
The Minister said Pakistan should stop using “well-crafted” arguments like possible involvement of “non-state actors” in terror attacks against India and stop trying to put Pakistan on a par with India on the issue of terrorism.
He noted that Pakistan had done little or nothing to bring the perpetrators of the horrific 26/11 attack on Mumbai to book. While saying Ajmal Kasab, the lone terrorist who was caught and tried in Mumbai, “should be hanged,” Mr. Gilani had typically added that those involved in the Samjhauta Express bombing should meet with the same fate, Mr. Sinha said.
According to reports, the National Investigation Agency could soon file a charge sheet in the Samjhauta case against Aseemanand and others.
Mr. Sinha also disagreed with External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna's assessment that the trust deficit between India and Pakistan was shrinking. That would happen only when Pakistan admitted the involvement of “state actors” in terror attacks against India launched from Pakistan, he said.
