Tharoor ticked off for visa tweet

External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna on Monday rebuked his junior minister, Shashi Tharoor, for publicly airing his differences on government policy.

External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna on Monday rebuked his junior minister, Shashi Tharoor, for publicly airing his differences on government policy.

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Trying to soften Tharoor’s “liberality vs security debate” on twitter, a social networking site, Krishna said the government will go by the home ministry’s guidelines and stressed differences over issues should not be discussed in public.

The Home Ministry had issued a directive on November 4 that foreign nationals with long-term multi-entry tourist visa must have mandatory two-month gap between two visits. The new rule was introduced after disclosures that 26/11 suspect David Headley had visited India on a tourist visa.

In his tweets, Tharoor questioned whether the new visa restriction would actually strengthen security as the “26/11 killers had no visas.”

“We’ve gone along with Home ministry on the visa issue… If there are any perceptions, they should be sorted out within the four walls of the two ministries,” Krisha told reporters.