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IANS/New Delhi
External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid yesterday said Defence Minister A K Antony’s statement on the killing of five Indian soldiers by Pakistani troops was a “carefully thought out statement based on facts provided by the army” and there was no attempt to “let off Pakistan.”
Khurshid said the statement made by Antony in parliament on Tuesday was not contradictory and there was no scope of controversy.
“See the corrected version of the Indian army press release and match it with what the defence minister says, it is exactly the same. I don’t think the statement is contradictory,” said Khurshid.
“It was a carefully thought out statement based on facts provide by the Indian army. It is my belief the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) is making desperate attempts to find holes,” he added.
“It is an evolving situation... we can’t be cussive and egoistic... as and when there is more information we will review the statement,” said Khurshid. He denied that Antony’s statement was an attempt to “let off” Pakistan.
The BJP has demanded that Antony apologise for his statement in which he said the attack on the Indian soldiers was carried out by 20 heavily-armed terrorists along with people in Pakistan army uniform.
A defence ministry statement - which was later withdrawn - had stated the ambush was carried out by Pakistan’s Border Action Team and that the Pakistan army was involved.
BJP leader L K Advani earlier said there was no justification in having talks with Pakistan if Islamabad was involved in the incident. He said there was a need for the defence minister to tell the truth.
Another BJP leader, M Venkaiah Naidu, asked if Antony’s statement was linked to a possible meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his newly-elected Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in September.
Speaking to reporters, BJP’s Yashwant Sinha, a former foreign minister, described Antony’s statement as “laughable”.
“It seems as if he is on the Pakistan army’s side. It was a most laughable statement as the army has clearly stated that Pakistani soldiers were involved and as the army is on the ground they know better than what the prime minister and defence minister know.”
Congress spokesman P C Chacko defended Antony and accused the BJP of playing politics over the issue.
There are no comments.
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