Accusing the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) of shifting from the established foreign policy principles of resolving issues with Pakistan bilaterally, India's main opposition BJP on Tuesday said it would seek answers from the government on the issue in Parliament during the ongoing budget session.
"The Prime Minister requesting Saudi Arabia to persuade Pakistan to stop supporting terrorism against India is a subtle shift and major departure in foreign policy tenet," Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Prakash Javadekar
said here.
He said the BJP would demand the government to explain on the floor of the House whether there had been a shift in the established foreign policy principles.
"We want the Prime Minister to take Parliament into confidence," he added.
Javadekar said at the time of the Shimla Agreement it was established that India and Pakistan will sort out all issues bilaterally and there would be no place for a third party mediation.
"The PM asking Saudi Arabia to persuade Pakistan is nothing but the beginning of third party intervention. This also proves that Shashi Tharoor's remarks indicating Saudi Arabia's role were not off the cuff," he said.
Javadekar said initially Minister of state for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor's remarks sounded off the cuff "keeping in mind his tweeting habits. But at such a high level
delegation all issues are discussed thoroughly beforehand.
Thus, Tharoor's remarks reflect the government's mindset on the issue," the BJP MP said.