India not in mood to see you embrace Pak PM: BJP tells Manmohan Singh

Thursday, 08/08/2013

http://www.punjabnewsline.com/national/india-not-in-mood-to-see-you-embrace-pak-pm-bjp-tells-manmohan-singh/84388

NEW DELHI: The top-brass of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh late Wednesday evening and are said to have advised him that the nation does not want to see him embracing his Pakistani counterpart at a time like this when tension is brewing with the neighbour nation.

The BJP delegation included stalwarts L.K. Advani, Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley. Also present were Defence Minister A.K. Antony, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid and National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon.

The BJP veterans reportedly told the Prime Minister that talks with Pakistan can be held at a lower level than that of the PM, or not at all. They were clearly refereeing to the meeting between the two PMs scheduled to take place in New York next month. Sources say they also conveyed that atmosphere was not conducive for any talks with Pakistan.

The India-Bangladesh land boundary agreement and the Defence Minister's statement on killing of five soliders near LoC also figured during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's meeting with BJP leaders informed sources said.

The sources said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders conveyed their concerns on the protocol to the land boundary agreement that was signed during Manmohan Singh's visit to Bangladesh in September 2011.

Sources said the government told the BJP leaders that it will look into their concerns on the protocol to land boundary agreement.

The government is keen to ratify the protocol to the agreement in the monsoon session of parliament. The prime minister had told Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dipu Moni last month that the government intends to take the land boundary agreement between two countries for ratification to parliament.

Sources said that state unit of BJP in Assam and West Bengal were against the protocol and the party leaders in Delhi were likely to be guided by their stance.

The 2011 protocol seeks to address the outstanding boundary issues and is aimed at fixed demarcated boundary in all the un-demarcated segments, exchange of 111 Indian enclaves in Bangladesh and 51 Bangladesh enclaves in India and a resolution of all adversely possessed areas.

The BJP leaders expressed concern at the killing of five soldiers and repeated ceasefire violations by Pakistan and attempts at infiltration.

The sources said the BJP leaders also told the prime minister that the government had created "a big problem" through Antony's statement on the killing of five Indian soldiers in an ambush near Line of Control in the Poonch sector of Jammu and Kashmir.

The BJP has sharply slammed the government over Antony not blaming the Pakistani army for killing five soldiers on the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir and has demanded an apology from him.

Sources said that the BJP leaders were told that the issue will be clarified in parliament Thursday.