External Affairs Minister S M Krishna on Monday ticked off his junior minister Shashi Tharoor for publicly questioning new visa guidelines, saying if he had any "perceptions", those should be discussed within the "four walls" of the government.
"These (issues) are not to be discussed in public. If there are any perceptions, then I think it should be sorted out within the four walls of the ministry," Krishna told reporters when asked to react to Tharoor's comments on social networking site Twitter regarding tightening of visa regime.
Krishna underlined that "the business of government is far too serious" and "has to be conducted in a manner in which we decide."
While tweeting, Tharoor had wondered whether tightening of the visa norms for foreign nationals made any sense at all and if it would actually "protect" security.
Contending that "26/11 killers had no visas", the Minister of State for External Affairs had asked whether India would allow terrorists to make it a "less welcoming" destination.
Under the new rules which came after the David Headley case, any foreign national holding long-term multiple entry visas will have to take a two-month break before re-entering India. However, this was amended later, with government saying exception would be made for bona fide travellers if they submit itinerary details.
Krishna emphasised that there was no ambiguity on the visa issue and the External Affairs Ministry and Home Ministry were on the same page on this.
Meanwhile, Congress on Monday downplayed the tweet of Shashi Tharoor, saying his approach has a "human" touch even though the government has security compulsions.
"He (Tharoor) has a humanitarian approach on the issue and it has a human touch. But for the government, there are compulsions pertaining to security in the backdrop of terror attacks, particularly 26/11," party spokesman Shakeel Ahmed said.
Some party leaders, however, felt Tharoor should avoid making statements which are bound to trigger controversy.
"A minister should avoid making personal remarks on such issues as it unnecessarily leads to controversies," a senior Congress leader said.
However BJP described Tharoor's remarks on new visa rules as "callous" and said the government should clarify its position on the issue instead of "speaking in different voices".
"Tharoor has made a callous remark (on 26/11 killers not needing visas). How can a person in his position make such statements even in jest?" BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said and accused the government of taking "contradictory stand" on visa norms.
"The stand of the government is contradictory. It has given no clarification till now. We want a categorical answer from the government on the subject," Rudy said.
He insisted that the government should also look into the present visa norms in the wake of reports of misuse of Tatkal scheme. Rudy maintained that government had made rules for issuance of passports very flexible, leading to its misuse as shown by a recent case from Lucknow Regional Passport office, where a terrorist had managed to secure a passport.
While tweeting, Tharoor had wondered whether tightening of the visa norms made any sense and if it would actually "protect" security as "26/11 killers had no visas".
Tharoor had asked whether India would allow terrorists to make the country a "less welcoming" destination. PTI
