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Congress, BJP tussle on Agra summit continues

Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi

The one-upmanship between the Congress and the ruling National Democratic Alliance over the Agra summit sharpened on Friday with Sonia Gandhi's party alleging that the government's mishandling of the media resulted in a 'diplomatic disaster'.

"No government in the history of independent India has received such unqualified cooperation (on the summit) from the opposition in general and the Congress in particular," pointed out party spokesman S Jaipal Reddy at the All India Congress Committee headquarters.

"The way the summit was handled indicated media mishap and it was certainly a fiasco, if not a failure," he asserted.

Referring to the government's alleged 'post-summit blues', he contended that the pre-summit phase was characterised by 'lack of preparation', and the summit phase by 'confusion' and the post-summit phase in a 'non-step'.

The summit's second day was sparked by a positive statement by the External Affairs and Defence Minister Jaswant Singh but on the third day, the government issued a 'negative statement', Reddy asserted.

Referring to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's briefing the all-party meeting on Thursday, he said the government seemed confused as was reflected by its assertions.

"The Congress party gave a carte blanche but what did it get in a return, it only got a heavy overdraft, this is the balance sheet of the summit," he pointed out.

Later, Reddy told rediff.com that because of the confusion among government officials during the summit, 'it desisted from briefing the media and the result was a lot of guesswork and very little substance.'

Reddy, however, declined to comment whether the Pakistani media had scored over its Indian counterpart because government officials in Islamabad had taken care to brief it.

"The results are there for everyone to see, why obviate the obvious," the Congress spokesman pointed out.

However, the Bharatiya Janata Party leaders appeared incensed over the reaction of the Congress on the Agra summit.

Senior BJP leader Jagdish Prasad Mathur said, "Don't these people have any grace? The entire nation has stood behind the prime minister, who has ensured that Kashmir remains an integral part of India. But the opposition, chiefly the Congress, has chosen to criticise our government, it only reveals its mindset."

Mathur on Friday led a delegation of his party members to Vajpayee's Race Course Road residence to congratulate him 'on his superb handling of the summit-level talks with Pakistan at Agra'.

Asked whether his party was ready to face opposition flak on the Agra summit during the monsoon session of Parliament commencing July 23, Mathur said, "Of course, we are prepared."

Indo-Pak Summit 2001: The Complete Coverage

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