Mani Shankar Aiyar’s ‘love for Pakistan’ embarrasses Congress again

Mani Shankar Aiyar has said that India is still caught in a “partially 1947 situation” while there is “change of mindset” in Pakistan.

Mani Shankar Aiyar’s ‘neech’ remark for Prime Minister Narendra Modi spelled trouble for the Congress party during the Gujarat Assembly elections, but that does not seem to have deterred him from making more remarks that cause embarrassment to his party.

Firing a fresh salvo amid tension between India and Pakistan over recent attacks on Army and CRPF camps in Jammu and Kashmir, the veteran Congress leader has said that India is still caught in a “partially 1947 situation” while there is “change of mindset” in the neighbouring country.

Talking about the difference between the Punjab on the Indian side and that on the Pakistani side at an event in Karachi, Aiyar said that India and Kashmir were not an issue for political parties in the neighbouring country, and that every party other than Jamaat-e-Islami had said that they wanted peace with New Delhi.

He further said that the need of the hour was for both countries to engage in uninterrupted dialogue. Aiyar said that while Islamabad has accepted the policy of and need for continuous dialogue to resolve issues of bilateral importance, New Delhi has not.

"There is only one way to resolve the India- Pakistan issue and that is by way of uninterrupted and un-interruptible dialogue," he said.

He added, "I love Pakistan because I love India. India should love thy neighbour as thyself."

Aiyar stressed that 'Kashmir' and 'India-directed terrorism' are the two main issues that need to be dealt with.

He further said that India and Pakistan should adopt a framework that was formulated by the regime led by former president general (retired) Pervez Musharraf.

This comes amid a standoff between India and Pakistan over attacks on an Army camp in Sunjwan and a CRPF camp in Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir. While Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that Pakistan would pay a price for its misadventure, Islamabad on Tuesday responded saying any Indian aggression would not go unpunished.