PM disapproves Qureshi’s remark against home secretary

NEW DELHI: The recent Islamabad fiasco where Shah Mehmood Qureshi pushed the engagement off the rails with his intemperate remarks has not sapped Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s enthusiasm for a dialogue with Pakistan.

Addressing a press conference with visiting British prime minister David Cameron, Mr Singh hoped that Mr Qureshi will respond to New Delhi’s invitation and the two nations will put in place a constructive dialogue.

Mr Singh, who broke his silence over Pakistan’s one-upmanship at the joint press conference addressed by Mr Qureshi and Mr S M Krishna, said the Pakistani foreign minister should have avoided the controversial remarks. “because it detracted from the agreements arrived between the two sides during the negotiations,” he said.

At the press conference, Mr Qureshi had attacked home secretary G K Pillai for going public with India’s view that elements in Pakistan’s ISI had choreographed the attack on Mumbai. Mr Qureshi had also questioned the sanctity of elections in Jammu and Kashmir besides alleging human rights violations in the state.

If the statement of the prime minister disapproving the conduct of Mr Qureshi is anything to go by, Mr Pillai’s statements were not ill-timed as Mr Krishna had made them out to be. This is certain to give a handle to the Opposition to beat Mr Krishna with as the external affairs minister chose not to contradict his Pakistani counterpart at the press conference.

At Thursday’s press conference, the prime minister said India expected Pakistan to keep up its commitment not to allow its territory to be used by terrorists against India.