The Bharatiya Janata Party expressed anguish over External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee's silence when the Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi spoke of taking up the Kashmir issue in the United Nations. Ravi Shankar Prasad who issued the statement wanted to know why Mukherjee did not rebut the statement.
"We are surprised and shocked at the statement of the Pakistan foreign minister. The Indian foreign minister should have reacted on the spot. But it was shocking to see what Pranabda did," he said.
When contacted a senior official of the ministry of external affairs, who had gone to Pakistan as a member of Indian delegation, said that BJP claim was wrong. "See the video of the joint press conference and you would know that things were not what they were claimed in early reports. The minister will clarify if required," the official said.
Prasad reminded the foreign minister that neither Indira Gandhi nor A B Vajpayee referred to UN resolutions. "In fact it was for the first time that Pakistan agreed not to allow terrorists use its territory during President Prevez Musharraf's talks with Vajpayee on January 6, 2004. During Narsimha Rao's time a resolution was adopted that the entire Jammu and Kashmir including PoK was part of India," he said.
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