New Delhi- Disapproving the comments made by Union Home Secretary G K Pillai on the eve of Indo-Pak talks, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna on Wednesday said his whole visit to Islamabad was "under-pinned" by the remarks, the timing of which was "very unfortunate."
Clearly unhappy with Pillai's statement about the involvement of ISI in Mumbai terror attacks, a day ahead of his visit to Pakistan to hold talks, Krishna said if he was the Home Secretary, he would not have spoken about the details of the Pakistani-American David Headley revelations.
Factually, Pillai was "very much in order" in speaking about the disclosures made by Headley to FBI and Indian interrogators but "the timing was something which was very unfortunate," Krishna told PTI in an interview here.
The Minister disclosed that he discussed Pillai's comments with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, whom he had briefed on his parleys with his Pakistani counterpart S M Qureshi and other leaders.
He insisted that the government was speaking in one voice on Pakistan and said he was "glad" that Home Ministry has now announced the appointment of a spokesperson. In recent months, Pillai has been briefing the media.
Disagreeing with the perception that his discussion with Qureshi had ended in a deadlock, Krishna said he was "quite satisfied" with his visit which has bridged the trust deficit "to some extent."
Rejecting suggestions that the outcome of his talks was a setback to the overall dialogue process, the Minister said the visit was a confidence building exercise and "to that extent, we have succeeded".
Expressing his firm belief that India and Pakistan needed to remain engaged, Krishna said there was no other alternative.
Responding to a question on BJP's stand that India should not talk to Pakistan now, the Minister said he had briefed the BJP leaders before his visit to Islamabad and conveyed the desirability of engaging Pakistan.
"There is no alternative. If somebody can come out with an alternative, I can consider that."
Answering questions about Qureshi's undiplomatic remarks after the talks and if he was willing to ignore such behaviour, Krishna said "I am willing to mind my business and concentrate on my work."
However, he dismissed as "ridiculous" the comparison sought to be drawn by Qureshi between JuD chief Hafiz Saeed's anti-India statement and Pillai's remarks on ISI.
The Minister said the minute details of how the "whole conspiracy of 26/11 was hatched and executed" showed the "diabolical nature of the conspiracy".
The fact that these details had come out during interrogation of Headley by FBI put much more onus on Pakistan to act against the conspirators, he said.
The External Affairs Minister welcomed Qureshi's assurance that Pakistan would act on the leads provided by Headley and would hasten the trial of those involved in the Mumbai attack. "I am glad about it. That is expected from that government (of Pakistan)."
Responding to a question on the perception that the first session of his talks with Qureshi had gone off well, prompting Indian officials to promise some good news, Krishna said he was not "very sure" of the outcome of the meeting till the last minute. PTI
