External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj Tuesday said the government has nothing to do with the meeting between yoga guru Ramdev's aide, Ved Pratap Vaidik, and 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed.
"Categorically and unequivocally, through your medium, I would like to state that the government has nothing to do with Ved Pratap Vaidik's trip to Pakistan or his meeting Hafiz Saeed there," Swaraj said in the Lok Sabha.
"Neither before going to Pakistan nor after reaching there did he (Vaidik) inform us that he is meeting Saeed... It was purely a private trip and a personal meeting. And here, to blame that he went as someone's emissary or that the government facilitated the meet is untrue, baseless and unfortunate," she added.
The Lok Sabha was earlier adjourned for 20 minutes after members of the house created an uproar over the issue.
The 69-year-old Vaidik's meeting with Hafiz Saeed in Pakistan has sparked off a major row with the Congress seeking to pin down the Narendra Modi government by asking if he was sent as an emissary even as the ruling BJP has distanced itself from the meeting, asserting Saeed is a terrorist.
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