After Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar said that India should give respect to Pakistan as the country has nuclear weapons, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has hit out at Congress and said its “ideology is fully visible” in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar lashed out at Aiyar’s remarks and flagged the “support” Congress is getting from Pakistan.
“Support to and from Pakistan including offering to give up Siachen. Support to and from domestic terror-linked organisations and people like SDPI, Yasin Malik,” said Chandrasekhar in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
Last month, in an interview with writer and filmmaker Aditya Sangwan, Aiyar raised the spectre of nuclear weapons and wondered what would happen if “some crazy person” comes to power in Pakistan and decides to use nuclear weapon against India. He also criticised the “muscular”
“What if some crazy person comes to power there? They have atom bombs…What would happen then? You need to understand that if you want to be vishvaguru, however severe the crisis is with Pakistan, we worked to resolve it. For the past 10 years, all such work has been stopped,” said Aiyar in Hindi.
‘Talk to Pakistan, we are running around with guns!’
Aiyar has pitched for dialogue between India and Pakistan and has criticised the Narendra Modi government’s approach to tensions with the neighbour. He said the policy has got “nothing” since 2014.
Aiyar has said that India should “respect” Pakistan’s sovereignty and while India may talk tough with Pakistan, the dialogue must go on.
“Pakistan is also a sovereign country. It also has respect. Maintaining that respect, you do all the tough talk all you want, but do talk to them! You are running around with gun! What have you got out of it? Nothing! Tensions have kept on increasing,” said Aiyar.
He further said, “If you talk to them, you give them respect, then they will not touch the bomb, but you have rejected them.”
Aiyar also criticised the Modi government’s position on the issue of nuclear weapons and said any strike on Pakistan would also affect India.
“If some crazy person blasts our bomb at Lahore, then radioactivity will reach Amritsar in eight seconds. If you keep such bombs, you need to stop their usage,” said Aiyar.
When asked about the “muscular” policy of the Modi government, Aiyar said that it works “if we have [muscles] and they don’t”.
“We all know their muscles are in Kahuta. If misgivings spread, we will be having problems,” said Aiyar, referring to the Pakistani nuclear facility at Kahuta near Islamabad that’s engaged in nuclear weapons production.
‘Congress leaders stay in India, but their hearts reside in Pakistan’
After the video of Aiyar’s remarks began circulation, BJP leader Anurag Thakur said that while Congress leaders live in India, their hearts are in Pakistan.
“Is this the fear of Congress? Or is it love for Pakistan? It comes to light again and again. Congress leaders stay in India, but their hearts reside in Pakistan. They spread fears in India. What courage does Pakistan have to do anything against India? India knows how to give befitting reply and has given it as well,” said Union minister Thakur in an interview with ANI.
Thakur was the second BJP leader to slam Aiyar’s remarks after Union minister Chandrasekhar.
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‘India should respect Pakistan, it has atom bombs’: Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar
