 "Little room for talks with Pakistan: Cong")
Congress spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had not visited the neighbouring country nor invited its president and prime minister because India had set a pre-condition that Pakistan should first dismantle its terror apparatus. “In the excitement of his swearing-in, Modi should not forget that there is no conducive atmosphere to have serious talks,” he added.
“Modi has invited heads of state from the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. It is nice to have good relations with our neighbours, but there is no precedent of any foreign dignitary being present at the swearing-in (of an Indian prime minister).”
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The Congress pointed out Tamil sentiments should have been considered before inviting Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
On Modi’s recent statement that reports by the Comptroller and Auditor General “should not be used as a tool for political bickering”, the Congress spokesperson said, “When they were in Opposition, the Bharatiya Janata Party used CAG reports to derail functioning of Parliament. Now they reverse their stand.”
The party raised doubts about the timing of the statement, claiming the CAG was due to submit a report on the Gujarat government that was likely to be harsh on Modi.
The party is pleased with Gujarat Congress leader Shankarsinh Vaghela’s dare to Modi and the BJP to build a Ram temple at Ayodhya now that the party had a majority in the Lok Sabha. He also suggested constituting a committee under yoga guru Baba Ramdev to bring back black money stashed abroad.
Vaghela, who parted ways with the BJP in 1996 and joined the Congress, reminded Modi: “You have said you will bring down inflation by 25% over the next six months. We will not ask you any questions till you complete one year (in office). But we will seek answers after one year about inflation.”