Turning a blind eye to T Pakistan's failure to act against perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks and shut down militant training camps in PoK, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday hailed his Pakistani counterpart Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani as a “man of peace“. The BJP was quick to slam Manmohan Singh for such “generous“ characterisation of the Pakistani leader who continued to preside over a regime that encouraged cross-border terrorism.
Singh praised Gilani days after Islamabad reiterated there was no credible legal evidence against JuD chief Hafiz Saeed and removed it from its terror list. At the same time, in its doublespeak on terror, Islamabad gave a fresh spin to the Mumbai carnage and asked New Delhi on Thursday to prosecute Mumbai terror attacks accused Ajmal Amir Kasab calling him a “non-state actor“.
Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik said, “Kasab is a terrorist. He is a non-state actor.
He should go to the gallows.“
He should go to the gallows.“
But, the high point of the day was Manmohan Singh warming up to Gilani, a man who had done precious little so far to address India's concerns on cross-border terrorism. “I have always regarded Prime Minister Gilani as a man of peace. Every time I have met him in the last three years, this belief has been further strengthened,“ Singh said in a joint Press statement.
Criticising Singh, senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha said, “The Prime Minister of India has erred in describing Mr Gilani as a man of peace. The central issue between India and Pakistan has been cross-border terrorism and there is nothing Pakistan has done to convey the message that they are serious about tackling the issue.“
The former External Affairs Minister refused to read much into Malik's demand to hang 26/11 convict Ajmal Kasab and pointed out that the Pakistan Minister had also sought sim
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