Slamming Prime Minister Narendra Modi for receiving Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the airport, the Congress on Wednesday asked whether according a grand welcome to "those who praised" Pakistan's "anti-terror efforts" was his way of remembering the martyrs of the Pulwama attack.
In a special gesture, the Prime Minister received the Saudi crown prince at Palam airport on Tuesday night. The visit comes five days after a suicide bomber belonging to the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) group killed 40 CRPF personnel in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir.
"National interests V/S Modiji's 'hugplomacy'. Breaking protocol, grand welcome to those who pledged US $20 billion to Pakistan and praised Pakistan's 'anti-terror' efforts. Is it your way of remembering martyrs of Pulwama?" Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said on Twitter.
The Congress spokesperson was referring to the crown prince's visit to Pakistan, during which the two countries signed investments agreements worth USD 20 billion.
He urged Modi to "show courage" and ask Saudi Arabia to undo its joint statement with Pakistan, in which they called for avoiding "politicisation" of the UN listing regime at a time when India was stepping up efforts to brand JeM chief Masood Azhar a global terrorist.
Senior Congress leader Anand Sharma tweeted, "PM Modi seems to be eager to compete with and emulate the Pakistan PM Imran Khan in breaking protocol and receiving Saudi Crown Prince... Without any need or justification".
"Worse, the joint statement does not refer to the ban on either Jaish or Masood Azhar," he said. Sharma added, "The fact that the Crown Prince has visited Pakistan after the dastardly attack and refused to endorse the ban on Masood Azhar and the declaration of Jaish E Mohammed as a terrorist organisation seems to have been lost on the Prime Minister."
He called it a "glaring diplomatic failure" for which Modi must answer to the nation.