Jaswant flays America's 'patronising' attitude

"Yesterday it was Iraq, today it is Iran, and with NATO forces in Afghanistan, tomorrow it could be..," he said.

Flaying the US for asking India to make some "difficult choices" on the civilian-nuclear deal, former External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh has said that Washington's "patronising" attitude towards South Asia is "very worrisome."

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"Perhaps, it is best if the US stops telling all of us here in South Asia what to do and what not to do. It's self-evident that we have to take a decision. At least I don't take a decision because somebody told me I have to take a decision. I find it a bit patronising," said Singh, currently on a nine-day visit to Pakistan's Sindh province.

"Yesterday it was Iraq, today it is Iran, and with NATO forces in Afghanistan, tomorrow it could be that... I don't want to go any further, but it is very worrisome," he said.

The former External Affairs Minister also criticised US President George W Bush, saying he had a "problem" with the manner with which the American leader projected the situation in Iran in his State of the Union address earlier this week.