New Delhi: Former Union Minister Yashwant Sinha on Wednesday claimed the proposed National Security Advisor-level talks between India and Pakistan will be a “dialogue of the deaf” and that BJP has “deviated” from its stated policy regarding talks with Pakistan.
Sinha, an External Affairs Minister in Vajpayee cabinet, said that “based on the experience of dealing with Pakistan during the six years of Vajpaye rule, we came to the conclusion that terror and talks cannot go together.”
He said “this has been a clearly stated policy of BJP that we will not countenance terror. Therefore, in the 10 years rule of UPA, we had criticised Manmohan Singh personally and the UPA government for departing from BJP’s position.”
On Sunday, Pakistan’s NSA Sartaj Aziz will travel to India to hold talks with his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval. The talks agreed between the prime ministers of India and Pakistan in their meeting in Ufa in Russia are supposed to focus on terror and are seen as a first step towards the two countries moving towards a possible road map for peace.
But since their talks, the violence at the border has only escalated. Within a short span of time, Pakistan has indulged in 45 odd ceasefire violations. There have also been two major terror attacks in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir.
When pointed out that Pakistan accentuates the crisis and has a ready explanation, Sinha said they tried to disown 26/11 Mumbai terror attack convict Amir Ajmal Kasab also till proof was found. “Their script is an old script. Everyone in India should know and does know about it. For every argument, they will have a counter argument,” he said.
“You say you (Pakistan) are promoting terrorism against India, they will say you are promoting terrorism against Pakistan. You will say you committed 26/11 and then they will point to Samjhauta Express blast. For every dossier, they will have a counter dossier.
“Therfore, these talks at the NSA level will be a dialogue of the deaf. There will be no outcome we will be exactly where we are before the talks.”
(With inputs from agencies)