Author: Agencies
Publication: IBN Live.com
Date: February 28, 2010
URL: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/one-more-time-tharoor-clarification-controversy/110851-37.html?from=tn
Opposition parties criticized Minister of
State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor for saying Saudi Arabia could be
a potential interlocutor in India's ties with Pakistan and the Congress tried
to explain his statement.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) described
Tharoor's statement as "utterly irresponsible".
Tharoor's comment is "utterly irresponsible
and we thoroughly condemn it," said BJP spokesperson Ravishankar Prasad
in Delhi.
Tharoor is part of the official delegation
accompanying the Prime Minister on his visit to Saudi Arabia, he said. "Has
the statement been made with the consent of the Prime Minister? Is this a
trial balloon?" Prasad asked.
"There has been no third party mediation
(in Indo-Pak ties). Tharoor's remarks are an insult to India's sovereignty.
We will seek a clarification from the Prime Minister in Parliament,"
he said.
BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar reiterated
India's known stand that no third party can intervene in issues between India
and Pakistan.
"Tharoor's remarks are objectionable.
The Prime Minister must explain such irresponsible remarks," Javadekar
told IANS.
The Communist Party of India (CPI) said Tharoor's
statement was "irresponsible" and the Prime Minister must clarify.
"This is an irresponsible statement creating
confusion. This one is deviating from India's stated position that no third
party intervention is allowed in Indo-Pak relations," said CPI leader
D Raja. He said the Prime Minister owes an explanation to the nation and Parliament.
Tharoor, who is accompanying Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh on his three-day official visit to Riyadh, said: "We feel
Saudi Arabia has a long and close relationship with Pakistan and that makes
Saudi Arabia a more valuable interlocutor to us."
He was asked if India would seek Saudi support
to influence Pakistan to address Indian concerns over terrorism emanating
from Pakistani territory.
After the controversy, Tharoor clarified that
New Delhi's desire to seek Riyadh's support on terrorism related issues with
Islamabad did not mean giving it the role of a mediator in India-Pakistan
disputes.
He said he had never used the word 'mediation'
or 'mediator' while talking about a possible Saudi role.
"No chance of my saying Saudi Arabia
should be a mediator... Never said that or anything like it," Tharoor
said a couple of hours after the media publicised his earlier remarks.
India is firmly opposed to any third party
role in its relations with Pakistan.
Commenting on Tharoor's statement, a source
close to Congress president Sonia Gandhi told IANS: "India's position
on 'no' to third-party mediation in India-Pakistan issues is unchanged. There
is no change in the Congress position."
