In Lahore, Mani Shankar Aiyar lauds hospitality of Pakistanis, criticises PM Modi
Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar was addressing a crowd on the second day of the Faiz Festival at Alhamra in Pakistan's Lahore.
Congress veteran and former Union minister Mani Shankar Aiyar on Sunday triggered a row by reportedly describing Pakistanis as the “biggest assets of India” and criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi for refusing to hold dialogue with Pakistan. Mani Shankar Aiyar, who has faced the Bharatiya Janata Party's criticism for his controversial remarks in the past, also called for open communication channels between India and Pakistan, Dawn reported.
“The Pakistanis, from my experience, have been the people who react perhaps overreact to the other side. If we are friendly, they are overfriendly and if we are hostile, they get over hostile…I have never been to a country where I was been welcomed with such open arms as I was in Pakistan," Dawn quoted Mani Shankar Aiyar as saying.
The Congress leader was addressing a crowd on the second day of the Faiz Festival at Alhamra in Pakistan's Lahore.
Criticising Modi, Mani Shankar Aiyar said the prime minister has made the “biggest mistake” by refusing to hold dialogue with Pakistan, reported the Pakistani Daily.
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“There were five Indian high commissioners who served in the Congress government and the BJP government in Islamabad and all five of them unanimously agreed that whatever our differences are, we must engage with Pakistan and the biggest mistake that we made in the last 10 years was the refusing dialogue. We have the courage to conduct surgical strikes against you but we don't have the courage to sit across the table and talk,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}“There were five Indian high commissioners who served in the Congress government and the BJP government in Islamabad and all five of them unanimously agreed that whatever our differences are, we must engage with Pakistan and the biggest mistake that we made in the last 10 years was the refusing dialogue. We have the courage to conduct surgical strikes against you but we don't have the courage to sit across the table and talk,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}He further went on to ask the people of Pakistan to remember that “Modi has never received more than one-third of the votes but our system is such that if has one-third of the votes, he has two-thirds in the seats".
“…So two-thirds of Indians are ready to come towards you (Pakistanis),” he was quoted as saying by Dawn.
Calling for a dialogue between India and Pakistan, the Congress leader reportedly said, “The two countries should continue dialogue until the governments awaken, but for that, neither Pakistan nor India were any help due to visa issues…I suggest businessmen, students, and academics should continue meeting outside India and Pakistan, bypassing the governments.”
In August last year, Aiyar had targetted Modi over dialogue with Pakistan saying, “Every prime minister before PM Modi tried for some kind of dialogue with Pakistan but now it is a freeze situation.”
