Cong. stands firm on Baloch issue, says govt.'s foreign policy 'amateur'

Standing firm on the Baloch issue, the Congress Party on Wednesday dubbed the BJP-led NDA Government's foreign policy as 'amateur'.

Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former external affairs minister Salman Khurshid told ANI that no one asked the former to speak on the prevailing situation in Balochistan while highlighting the Kashmir issue in his Independence Day address.

"My party is firm on it. This is an amateur foreign policy," he added.

The Congress leader while assuring his party's support to the government questioned the Prime Minister for not speaking till date on the suggestions put forth in the all-party meeting.

"During the all-party meeting, few suggestions were put forward that the problem should be solved by dialogue. So many days have passed, has the government done anything? The government has its own party with the PDP. So, it cannot shift the responsibility. There was no statement from the Prime Minister in the all-party meeting. He just said that human rights are being violated there too," he added.

The Congress earlier on Tuesday said Prime Minister Modi was not the first to raise concern on the situation in Balochistan.

"The Congress Party-led UPA government had consistently spoken about the spiraling violence and heavy Pakistani military action. The Congress and UPA government have condemned the human rights violations in Balochistan as also in PoK by the Pakistani forces and establishment on multiple occasions in the past. The first time the UPA did so was on December 27, 2005," Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said.

In his Independence Day address from the ramparts of the Red Fort on Monday, Prime Minister Modi had talked about the situation in PoK, Gilgit and Balochistan and said the people from there have thanked him for raising their issues.