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Prophet controversy didn't feature in foreign ministers' level talks: MEA
Iran, Kuwait and Qatar had summoned Indian envoys to lodge a protest over the matter on Sunday. Subsequently, more than a dozen countries, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Indonesia and the Maldives, have denounced the comments.
Visiting Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian did not raise the controversy over former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokespersons at his meeting with his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar, the external affairs ministry (MEA) said on Thursday.
"My understanding is that this issue was not raised during the conversation between the external affairs minister and his Iranian counterpart, ANI quoted spokesperson of the MEA Arindam Bagchi as saying.
On the claim that Amir-Abdollahian raised the issue during his meeting with NSA Ajit Doval and was told that those who made the offensive statement will be dealt with in a way “that is a lesson to others”, Bagchi said: "My understanding is that what you are referring to in a (Iranian) readout has been pulled down."
The ministry spokesperson also said it has made it clear that the remarks do not reflect the views of the government.
"We have made it pretty clear that the tweets and comments do not reflect views of government," Bagchi said.
"This has been conveyed to our interlocutors as also the fact that action has been taken by the concerned quarters against those who made the comments and tweets. I really do not have anything additional to say on this," he said.
BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma was suspended from her position while her colleague Naveen Jindal was expelled from the party on Sunday amid mounting anger in West Asian countries over the remarks they had made, which were seen in the region as insulting to Prophet Mohammed.
Iran, Kuwait and Qatar had summoned Indian envoys to lodge a protest over the matter on Sunday. Subsequently, more than a dozen countries, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Indonesia and the Maldives, have denounced the comments.
