The foreign policy of the Manmohan Singh Government came under sharp attack from the BJP, which also demanded the New Delhi to hold back its proposal of granting the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to Pakistan. The principal Opposition also cited the repeated incursions by China and troubled relationship with other neighbouring countries to claim that a “weak” New Delhi cannot protect the country’s interest.
BJP chief Rajnath Singh said the treatment meted out to Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragde was a case to prove that the UPA Government had failed to protect the country’s interest even before the United States, whom New Delhi describes as a strategic partner. The BJP chief said that relations with the US have hit a low which was not seen even after the Pokhran-II nuclear tests under the Atal Bihari Vajpayee regime.
“However, much we condemn the undue harassment meted out to our diplomat (Khobragade) on American soil, it would not be enough. The US view of this incident is completely unreasonable and condemnable,” Singh said. The BJP chief said India has made several attempts to improve relations with Pakistan, but those have ended in failure as Islamabad has not followed up its pronouncements with action, Singh said. “While the UPA Government claims it has no dialogue with Pakistan, Prime Ministers of both the countries, lawmakers and officials have been holding regular meetings. A meeting between foreign ministers of India and Pakistan commences today,” Singh said, adding that the UPA Government was allegedly trying to befool the people by claiming it was not a dialogue.
Singh said Pakistani forces have not only killed Indian soldiers but also beheaded them and displayed the head as a trophy in front of cameras. Expressing concern over intrusions by Chinese soldiers into the Indian territory, Singh said it was even more worrisome that the neighbouring country was trying to create an anti- India atmosphere in the region.
BJP called for improving relations with Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri lanka and Afghanistan in the light of new geo-political developments in India’s neighbourhood. Maintaining his attack on the Congress, Singh said, while the BJP wants the next Government at the Centre to be a strong one, the Congress and some foreign powers want a weak dispensation to replace UPA. Although he did not elaborate as to who these foreign powers were, Singh said that Congress did not want a stable government at the Centre as that would affect its chances of coming back to power.