Pillai Not ‘Defended’ by Krishna in Indo-Pak Joint Press Conference: BJP

The BJP has regretted that home secretary GK Pillai was not ‘defended’ by foreign minister SM Krishna when his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi ‘openly castigated’ him for his comments that the ISI had coordinated Mumbai terror attacks, said media reports.

However, Congress described Pakistan’s attempt to equate Pillai’s remarks with JuD chief Hafiz Saeed’s anti-Indian hate speeches as ridiculous, reports said.

“The foreign minister of Pakistan chose to attack India’s home secretary. I regret he was not defended there by India’s foreign minister,” BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad said, a day after Qureshi’s unexpected attack on Pillai at a joint news conference with Krishna after their talks in Islamabad.

Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said, “The home secretary was simply making a statement of fact about what India’s stand has been, It is only India’s stand. I don’t think there is any basis for comparison of statements by Hafiz Saeed or Salahuddin with the home secretary. That would be ridiculous.”

Singhvi also noted that Krishna has not confirmed Qureshi’s remarks that both the ministers were of the opinion that Pillai’s comments on ISI’s role in 26/11 were ‘uncalled’ for, said reports.

While offering his remarks on the result of the Indo-Pak talks, Prasad said that Qureshi was making an issue out of Pillai’s statement which was nothing but a statement of LeT operative and Pakistani-American David Headley about the role of ISI in Mumbai attack and that Headley has confessed to his involvement in 26/11 and is currently in FBI custody in Chicago in the US, reports said.

“They have no reply or content but they are comparing it (Pillai’s remarks) with Hafiz Saeed without taking any action,” Prasad was quoted as saying.