NEW DELHI, May 8:
BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi today indicated a tough stand against Pakistan and said talks between New Delhi and Islamabad could not be possible amid sound of gunfire.
“Is it possible to have discussions amidst bomb blasts and gunshots? Do you think it is possible to have a discussion amidst the deafening noise of bomb blasts and gunshots? So to have a reasonable discussion, first the blasts and gunshots have to stop,” he said in an interview with Times Now channel.
Asked about his recent statement that a confrontational approach was not the best approach in foreign policy relations and whether he would allow talks to continue despite ceasefire violations, he said there could be no talks till all this came to an end.
“You tell me, we are sitting here but can we continue our conversation if we are surrounded by the noise of bomb blasts and gunshots ?”
Asked whether he was saying that the export of terror from Pakistan, infiltration could not continue, Mr Modi, however, said the Indian Parliament held a unanimous opinion and no political party had the authority to change this opinion.
To a question on whether the talks could continue since Pakistan had not moved one inch on the 26/11 trial, Mr Modi said all these issues continued to stay as these were.
Asked if there was no progress in the 26/11 trial and infiltration and export of terror continued, then would his Government, if he came to power, continue talks, he said “Why do you think negative ?”
“If the country looks strong, then even its companions will change, neighbours will change and the atmosphere will change.”
He asserted that the question was born out of disappointment, whereas his answer had a positive outlook to it.
When told that the BJP position till now was that talks and terror could not continue, he said If the country’s Government was strong, then the solutions would be found automatically.
“I have given you the answer in other words when I said discussions amidst bomb blasts and gunshots is not possible.”
About the recent comment of Pakistan’s Interior Minister on Dawood Ibrahim, Mr Modi said it was not an issue of greater importance.
“…at this stage of the elections, it is not right to play with this topic. What was my point of debate? I was asked a question on Shinde. My answer was regarding India’s Home Minister. My answer was not regarding any terrorist or underworld person.
Mr Modi said Mr Shinde wanted to talk about the Dawood issue in a press conference and all he (Mr Modi) said was that such issues could not be dealt with during press conferences.
“Did Obama call a press conference before conducting the operation? All I said is, during the elections, such big talk by the Home minister does not show well on him.” He said there was a Government machinery in place and it would do its job.
“…Why does Shinde always need to do a press conference first ? During elections, will this type of a press conference now show well on him ? My issue was Shinde, my issue was a statement. My issue was not with a concerned person.”
To a question on visa ban by the US and the perception that the UPA had been soft in Foreign Policy, specially towards the US, considering the snooping on India, Mr Modi said “when we get first hand information, we will analyse it and will come to a conclusion on what to do…Once we form the Government, we will get the correct information, analyse it and formulate our strategy.”
Meanwhile, against the backdrop of denial of permission for his rally in Varanasi, Modi said he and BJP are being “troubled” by the Election Commission and wanted the poll body to “answer”.
“It is up to the Election Commission to answer why we are being troubled. Specifically, why a single party is being troubled, why Modi is being troubled. A lot has happened to me, but I don’t want to get into it right now. Let the EC take a decision,” the BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate said.
His comment came a day after the EC denied permission for his rally in Varanasi where he is contesting for the Lok Sabha polls.
At the same time, he insisted that he was not targeting the EC, saying he has not uttered a single word. He said it is his party BJP which has written letters to the EC, giving a detailed explanation.
“I cannot say much about this (anger at EC) because the developments are taking place in Varanasi,” he said, referring to the protests being staged by his colleagues, including Arun Jaitley, in Varanasi against the denial of permission for his rally.
Jaitley, a close Modi aide, has been in the forefront of the BJP’s attack on the local EC officials and has written to the EC a number of times on the issue.
EC today dismissed the allegations of the “lack of neutrality”.
Asked why he gave a caste-spin to Priyanka Gandhi’s ‘neech rajniti (low-level politics) barb at him, he clarified that the meaning of the word in Gujarati, the language he was most “familiar” with, approximates with the response he has given.
“Let’s assume I was misunderstood. But even their intention behind such usage of the words was wrong,” Modi said targeting Priyanka.
The BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate said he had acted “tough” internally against party leaders like his close aide Amit Shah and Bihar leader Giriraj Singh for their remarks targeting Muslims, saying that is why such statements have stopped.
“I was tough against this and that is why it stopped. If I didn’t oppose it through the internal mechanism, don’t you think it would have continued? Hasn’t it stopped? Did it stop or not? That means I have taken action and you can understand,” he said.
Asked if his attacks on the likes of Mayawati, Mamata Banerjee, Jayalalithaa during campaign might have harmed any future alliance with them in case BJP-led NDA does not get a majority, he said, “Politics isn’t conducted on the basis of what is said in the course of election campaigns.”
He, however, insisted that BJP will get a clear majority and form the “strongest and most stable Government” since Rajiv Gandhi’s Government in 1984.
Modi rejected allegations that he was discriminating among people seeking shelter in India on religious grounds.
The BJP manifesto’s mention of India being a “natural home to persecuted Hindus” included people of different faiths, but of Indian origin, as Hinduism was not a religion but “a way of life”, he argued quoting a Supreme Court judgement.
“Hindus were mentioned as it is in the SC’s judgment. Hinduism is as a way of life and not a religion. We have nothing to do with it. We don’t expect that Hinduism is a religion. Hinduism is a way of life.”
Hinting at taking a tough stand against Pakistan if he becomes the Prime Minister, he said it is not possible to have discussions amidst bomb blasts and gunshots.
“Do you think it is possible to have a discussion amidst the deafening noise of bomb blasts and gunshots? So to have a reasonable discussion, first the blasts and gunshots have to stop,” he said. (AGENCIES)
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