A day after the Congress welcomed BJP’s move to reach out to SAARC heads of the state for the swearing-in ceremony of Narendra Modi as Prime Minister, it mocked at the BJP for extending an invitation to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, reminding BJP’s oft-repeated stand that terror and talks cannot go hand in hand.
“Throughout the election campaign, you saw a lot of anti- Pakistan rhetoric which was articulated by the BJP in a language which was extremely vociferous to say the least. And now you have this invitation to Prime Minister of Pakistan. So, therefore, it is for BJP to introspect as to whether terror and invitations can go hand in hand,” former Union Minister and senior Congress leader Manish Tewari said.
This is in complete contrast to the party’s official view on Wednesday when AICC spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi welcomed the decision of Modi to invite all heads of SAARC countries.
“There is no question of not welcoming it. These are the Prime Minister’s prerogatives and certainly we are not here to interfere with the prerogatives of the Prime Minister. It is a part of governance as I said it is early days yet we wish well for something good happens. We will be very happy,” Singhvi had conveyed during the AICC briefing. This is for the first time these foreign leaders are invited to a Prime Minister’s swearing-in ceremony.
Noting that while it was the prerogative of the elected government to invite whosoever they want for their swering-in ceremony, Tewari said the BJP should not forget that Manmohan Singh had come under attack from them for carrying forward the process of normalising relations with the neighbour initiated by former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
He said that Singh had come under lot of criticism from BJP during the talks with Pakistan in Havana, in New York and in Sharm el-Sheikh that “terror and talks cannot go hand in hand”. The Congress leader’s remark came against the backdrop of SAARC Heads of State and Government including Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif been invited to Modi’s swearing-in as Prime Minister on May 26.