Mani Shankar Aiyar stated that the government can talk tough to Pakistan if it wants to, but if it doesn’t respect the neighbouring country, it may have to pay a heavy price.
Senior Congress leader Congress Mani Shankar Aiyar warns India of Pakistan's nuclear capabilities.
Accuses PM Modi of not working to resolve issues
Congress veteran Mani Shankar Aiyar courted controversy after saying that India should engage in dialogue with Pakistan and not flex its military muscles as it may irk Islamabad into deploying nuclear weapons against New Delhi.
He was the second leader in recent days to warn about Pakistan's nuclear capabilities. Earlier this week, National Conference (NC) chief Farooq Abdullah remarked sharply that Pakistan could resort to using atom bombs if provoked.
Aiyar, a former diplomat and vocal advocate of normalising India-Pakistan relations, stated that the government can talk tough to Islamabad if it wants to, but if it doesn’t respect the neighbouring country, it may have to pay a heavy price.
"They have atom bombs. We have them too, but if a
‘madman’ decides to drop a bomb on Lahore, it won’t take 8 seconds for the
radiation to reach Amritsar," he warned.
"If we respect them, they will remain peaceful. But if we snub them, what happens if a ‘madman’ comes up and decides to launch bombs [at India]?" Aiyar asked.
In a veiled dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Aiyar said, "In order to become the vishwaguru, no matter how serious our issues with Pakistan are, we have to show that we are working hard to resolve them. But in the last 10 years, there has been no hard work [to this end]."
The Congress was quick to distance itself from Aiyar's remarks, stating that they did not reflect the party's stance. It also accused the BJP of deliberately raking up an old interview of Aiyar's to score political points.
