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‘Not completely accurate’: Natwar Singh counters Rahul Gandhi's remarks on China-Pakistan ties
India's two neighbouring countries have been ‘close allies’ since the 1960s, the former EAM said, reacting to the Congress leader's remark that the incumbent BJP-led central government had brought the two nations together.
A day after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, in a speech in the Lok Sabha, accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government of bringing China and Pakistan closer, former external affairs minister K Natwar Singh said on Thursday that Gandhi's remarks were 'not completely accurate.'
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“I'm surprised that nobody from the government's side got up to remind Rahul Gandhi that what he has said is not completely accurate. China and Pakistan have been close allies since the 1960s. It started in his great grandfather's time, who took the Kashmir issue to the United Nations,” news agency ANI quoted Singh as saying, referring to the country's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
Former diplomat Kanwal Sibal, the elder brother of Congress leader Kapil Sibal, too, said that the China-Pakistan alliance began ‘well before’ the BJP came to power in India. “After the 1962 conflict, China-Pakistan saw an opportunity to strengthen their relations. Everyone is aware that the two have illegally collaborated in nuclear sector,” remarked Sibal.
Gandhi made these remarks on Wednesday, while speaking in the Lower House, as he replied to the debate on President Ram Nath Kovind's January 31 address to Parliament, which marked the beginning of the ongoing Budget session.
“The Chinese have a very clear vision of what they want to do. The single biggest strategic goal of India's foreign policy has been to keep Pakistan and China separate. What you have done is, you have brought them together,” the Member of Parliament from Kerala's Wayanad said.
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The former Congress president also warned the government against being under any illusion. He said, “Do not underestimate the force that is standing in front of you. You have brought Pakistan and China together. This is the single biggest crime that you could commit against the people of India.”
While the speech, predictably, drew furious response from ministers and BJP leaders, the United States also responded, saying that it ‘won’t endorse' such remarks.
