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Singh should quit if disgusted with double standards of his govt: Tewari

by IBNS 24 Mar 2015, 12:12 am

New Delhi, Mar 24 (IBNS): A day VK Singh attended the Pakistan Day function here, Congress leader Manish Tewari on Tuesday slammed the Minister of State for External Affairs over his 'disgust' and 'duty' tweets.

He said the minister should quit if he was disgusted with double standards of the Centre over the issue of Pakistan.

"If Mr#duty#Disgust is so disgusted with double standards of his govt on Pak he should quit? Other Min in past refused to attend PAK EVENTS!" Tewari tweeted.

Singh represented the government as he attended Pakistan National Day dinner in the country's High Commission in New Delhi on Monday.

Hours after attending the event, Singh tweeted of "disgust" and "duty".

"#DUTY The force that binds one morally or legally to one's obligations," he said in a tweet.

"#DUTYA job or service allocated," Singh said in another tweet.

"#DISGUSTTo sicken or fill with loathing," he said.

Singh tweeted: "#DISGUSTTo offend the moral sense, principles, or taste of."

He later said: "#'Disgust'ed to see how certain sections of the media are twisting this issue."

The event was attended by several Kashmiri separatist leaders.

Hours after Pakistan's envoy Abdul Basit's issued statement defending invitation to Kashmiri separatists to join Pakistan' republic day celebrations in Delhi, India on Monday said there is no place for a third party in resolution of bilateral issues.

India's terse reaction, which went contrary to Pakistan's expectations came after Basit said in the morning that  he does not think that India will object to his dinner invitation for Kashmiri separatists to join him in celebrating Pakistan's Republic Day.

"The Government of India prefers to speak for itself... "There should be no scope for misunderstanding or misrepresenting India's position on the role of the so-called Hurriyat. Let me reiterate there are only two parties and there is no place for a third party in resolution of India-Pakistan issues," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson  Syed Akbaruddin said.

Earlier in the morning Basit said, "I don't think the Indian government has objected (to the invite)... I suggest to media friends not to make an issue out of a non-issue."

On Sunday, the Pak High Commissioner met with separatist leaders to brief them on the talks held recently between the Foreign Secretaries of India and Pakistan.

What appears to have added more controversy to the issue this year is the fact that the Pakistan invitation has been extended to Masarat Alam, the separatist leader, who  organised  the massive 2010 protests in the valley engaging Kashmiris in prolonged clashes with security forces resulting in the death of more than 100 people.

Alam's release from jail at the instance of the J & K's Mufti Mohammad Sayeed government has  snowballed into a big issue with opposition parties crying hoarse alleging that the ruling BJP at the centre, which has an alliance with Sayeed's PDP, has compromised over national security.

Amid this row, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Twitter that he had wished his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif for Pakistan Day.