Manish Tewari refuses to comment on Azam Khan`s accusation

Bangalore: Union Minister Manish Tewari on Sunday refused to comment on UP Minister Azam Khan`s charge that External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid had hatched a "conspiracy" to defame him outside India. "Azam Khan has given such statements many times. By commenting on his statement, I don`t want to glorify him," Tewari told reporters here.

He was responding to a question on accusation of Khan, who had been briefly detained on Wednesday at a US airport. The UP minister alleged, "How can you expect the GoI to protest when Khurshid is holding the Foreign Ministry portfolio? If you do not know who Khurshid is, then I am very sorry... He tried to defame me in my state and failed miserably. He is unfit to be Indian Foreign Minister." Khan also claimed that a call on continuation of Samajwadi Party`s support to the UPA government will be taken by party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav after hearing his version and that of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on their return to India. PTI