Indo-Pak ‘secret’ NSA talks draw flak

New Delhi: The secret meeting in Bangkok between the National Security Advisors of India and Pakistan created quite a furor with the Opposition demanding a statement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue.

Former External Affairs Minister and Congress leader Anand Sharma, criticising the secret talks, said that bypassing the Parliament and holding the meeting was uncalled for.

Terming the incident as a disrespect to the Parliament, Sharma further said that the Opposition wanted to know the outcome of the meeting.

"Parliament should have been informed and still should be informed regarding the whole matter," Sharma said.

However, the 'secret meeting' happened a day before Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj was scheduled to visit Pakistan to attend a conference on Afghanistan.

Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi pacified things saying the Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj would make a statement on Thursday.

The Opposition went to the extent of calling the secret meeting a political betrayal by the ruling party. "It's a grand betrayal. It's a betrayal of everything that this government has ostensibly, publicly espoused," Congress leader Manish Tewari said.

"Why is it so secret? There are so many flip flops regarding talks," said Saugata Roy of the Trinamool Congress.

Notably, the National Security Advisor level meeting was okayed by the Prime Ministers of both the bitter rival nations when they had a chat in Paris two weeks ago.

Discussions on terrorism, security and Jammu & Kashmir were the agendas that were talked upon during the four-hour NSA meeting.

Meanwhile, Barkha Dutt's much-awaited debut book wherein she made some startling revelations about an alleged hour-long secret meeting in Nepal between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in 2014 had also drawn flak from various political quarters in India.

It was obvious that the Opposition would lambast the BJP-led government on such issues. They would also try to garner support from other political majors in India and try to create a fiasco out of the issue in the Parliament.

(With inputs from agencies)

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