Congress asks why is NDA crawling when asked to bend in talks with Pak

The Congress on Monday castigated India and Pakistan Foreign Secretary talks and said the Centre seems to succumb to every possible pressure from those countries who are engaged in axe-hostile to New Delhi.

Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari questioned as to why is Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government entertaining Pakistan's Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhary after Islamabad sent a spurious Joint Investigative Team (JIT) to probe the Pathankot attack, which later on rubbed India's nose in the mud by alleging that New Delhi perpetrated the infamous terror event to discredit Pakistan.

"The government's foreign policy mantra is that you crawl when you are ask to bend, they seem to succumb to every possible pressure from every country which is engaged in axe-hostile to India. Nothing has come out of the Pathankot probe the JIT which was invited to India went back and the rubbished India through newspaper leaks, saying that the attack has been perpetrated by Indian agencies to discredit Pakistan and not withstanding that fact that Masood Azhar the person who masterminded the attack is rooming free in Bawalpur and in such situation India is ready to engage with Foreign Secretary of Pakistan," said Tewari told ANI.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi should answer the country. The Ufa process was also rubbished by Pakistan, UFA was followed by Pathankot, after which Pakistan rubbed India's nose in the mud by sending a spurious JIT after all this why is the Indian government entertaining Foreign Secretary of Pakistan? This a legitimate question needed to be answered by the Narendra Modi government," he added.

The Pakistan Foreign Secretary met his Indian counterpart S. Jaishankar today on the sidelines of the 'Heart of Asia-Istanbul process' conference.

The two said to have discussed all outstanding issues, including the Jammu and Kashmir dispute'.

"The meeting provided a useful opportunity to exchange views on recent developments in bilateral context. In line with our Prime Minister's vision of peaceful neighbourhood, the Foreign Secretary underscored Pakistan's commitment to have friendly relations with all its neighbours, including India," Pakistan High Commissioner to India Abdul said in a statement.