Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar continues to make news with his controversial remarks. On Wednesday, the Minister grabbed TV headlines by justifying his earlier comments about using terrorists to neutralise terrorists, saying: “Pakistan ko mirchi lagi hai aur who bhi Andhra ki.” As if this was not enough for the day, he also said the eyes of Chinese-made idols of lord Ganesha were becoming narrower and narrower.
The Minister made the remark concerning Pakistan in a media interaction on the sidelines of a seminar on ‘Make in India’ organised by Vivekananda International Foundation. When journalists drew Parrikar’s attention to the fact that his recent comments on using terrorists to neutralise terrorists has upset Pakistan, he shot back: “I will not go into what Pakistan feels about that but, mirchi, who bhi Andhra ki, lagi hai.” On Chinese-made idols, Parrikar said he often gets statues of gods, especially Ganesha as gifts when he attends programmes. “I found that nowadays the eyes are becoming smaller and smaller. One day I turned it upside down and found the label Made in China,” he said.
He said Indians have imagined the facial features of Goddess Saraswati and Ganesha among others based on the paintings of Raja Ravi Verma. “Don’t be surprised if it slowly changes. So we have to start ‘Make in India’ right from Diwali gifts to our own gods. I think it is quite serious,” Parrikar said in the context of the Chinese edge over India in the manufacturing sector.
The Minister also shocked the audience by saying that when he was a child his father used to say jokingly that a single atom bomb can solve the population problem. “The population then was only 35 crore and he considered it to be a problem,” Parrikar said. However, he talked substance on the issue of arms sale to Pakistan by the US and said it is a matter of concern. This comment came hours before his bilateral talks with visiting US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter. “I will not comment on specifics but any arms sale to Pakistan is a concern to India,” he told reporters in response to a question about continued American sale of arms to Pakistan. The US has given military hardware, including F-16 fighter planes, to Pakistan amounting to USD 5.4 billion since the 9/11 terror attacks, according to a latest Congressional report.
These weapons given to Pakistan in the 10-year framework are aimed to bolster Islamabad's capabilities for war on terror and to fight terrorists in its border areas. But New Delhi is of the opinion that Pakistan is using this military hardware to increase its military might to fight a conventional war with India. Meanwhile, Union Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh on Wednesday hit back at Pakistan saying it can keep harbouring “wrong notions” but that would not make any difference to the actual condition.
He made this observation in response to Pakistan Army chief General Raheel Sharif terming Kashmir as an unfinished agenda of partition and Pakistan and Kashmir are “inseparable”. Singh said, “I think this is the notion they will keep harbouring. They can keep harbouring that wrong notion. It will not make any difference to actual conditions,” Singh, a former Army chief, told reporters here. He also said Pakistan should apologise for the atrocities done to Kargil martyr Captain Saurabh Kalia, and also for its acts during the 1948, 1971 and 1965 wars.