In a rare show of disunity on foreign affairs, the Lok Sabha yesterday saw the Opposition attacking the BJP-led government for deviating from the long-practised foreign policy of peace and friendly relations with neighbouring countries.
The BJP adopted equally strident posture and even chided some Opposition leaders for "speaking the language of Nawaz Sharief (Pakistan Prime Minister)".
The differences were open and clear on almost all issues that have been thrown up following the nuclear explosions by the two countries _ policy towards the US, China, Pakistan, European Union and Japan.
The latest provocation was a declaration by Prime Minister A B Vajpayee that his talks with Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharief during the Colombo Saarc summit were "cordial and constructive". This was contradicted by Sharief who said it was a "waste of time".
Later, BJP MP Jagmohan declared that the Pakistan government came for the talks prejudiced which represented "their culture" whereas India conducted itself with dignity typical of "Indian culture".
Senior Lok Sabha members later recalled that they have rarely come across occasions when the Lok Sabha was so divided on foreign affairs issues.
As it has been in the post-Pokhran era. Even the BJP allies who, for record sake, supported their government, especially the efforts of Prime Minister A B Vajpayee in normalising the international temper against India, most of them were highly critical of the inflamable remarks of senior BJP leaders, including that of Advani, which they said had made the task of Vajpayee even more difficult.
Congress leader P A Sangma who opened the debate in the Lok Sabha yesterday mounted a scathing attack on the government for "total isolation" of India following the Pokharan nuclear tests due to what he termed as a complete failure of on the foreign affairs front.
There was confusion as to who was running the external affairs ministry _ was it the Prime Minister's Office, or the Planning Commission whose deputy chairman Jaswant Singh had been handling negotiations with the US, or the Union home ministry whose incumbent L K Advani has been making statements on issues which have serious bearing on foreign relations of the country.
Battery of other speakers from the Opposition all made different points but conveyed the same message _ the government has destroyed the tradition of consensus approach on foreign affairs issues. "They do not even consult their allies, let alone the entire political opinion," Mulayam Singh Yadav of Samajwadi Party said.
