PM's Balochistan reference unnecessary: Kapil Sibal

Terming Prime Minister Narendra Modi's reference of Balochistan in his speech "unnecessary", former law minister and Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Monday said instead of addressing issues concerning the nation, he spoke on "vague matters".

Asserting that it was not a well-thought statement, Sibal said the way Prime Minister spoke about other country from the rampart of Red Fort is a matter of concern.

"Prime Minister's speech should inform the country as to what has happened in the last one year and what are the issues that confront the nation and what are the issues that need to be addressed and those issues. The Prime Minster should have applied his mind and addressed the nation, but the real issues were absent in Prime Minister's address. Instead we had some reference to Balochistan and I don't know who advised him to raise that issue from the ramparts of the Red fort," said Sibal.

"I don't think it was a well-thought out statement on Balochistan. And, there will be a fall out of this statement by the Prime Minister from Red Fort. No Prime Minister in the history of India has talked about some other country in this fashion. So, I am a little concerned about the manner in which this statement was made," 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.