BJP backs PM, says Cong has missed opportunity to expose Pak

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday alleged that the Congress was attempting to score political brownie points by criticizing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Independence Day address and said that the grand old party had in the process missed the opportunity to unitedly expose Pakistan.

"I am sorry to state that it is a missed opportunity by the Congress, there was an opportunity for the Congress in fact to stand with the statement of the Prime Minister today and hail what the Prime Minister has said that yes we would expose Pakistan, yes we will fight against terrorism, that PoK is part of India and the inhumanities conducted against people of Balochistan is something which we should all expose, we should all stand against, " said BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra.

"The irony is that on the issues of Pakistan, on the issue of Balochistan and on the issue of PoK, the Congress is trying to play petty politics, Congress is trying to score some political brownie points. I think forgetting domestic politics Pakistan is an issue BJP, Congress and all other political parties should unite," he added.

Earlier today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made an oblique reference to the human rights situation in Pakistan's Balochistan province besides Gilgit and other areas of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in his Independence Day speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort.

"People of Balochistan, Gilgit and PoK have thanked me a lot in past few days, I am grateful to them," Prime Minister Modi said while addressing the nation on the occasion of 70th Independence Day.

"This is the example of our humanitarian approach, but there are some countries who glorify terrorists. To the youth who have taken up guns, I urge them to return to their parents and shun violence," he added.

Gilgit-Baltistan has witnessed massive protests that erupted against a crackdown by Pakistan's security forces in recent weeks and resource rich Balochistan province has seen a crackdown by the Pakistani authorities who say they are quelling an insurgency in the region.

In the past, Pakistan has accused India of supporting the Baloch insurgency.