New Delhi: Congress on Friday took potshots at Modi government, alleging a "communication gap between South Block and North Block" and expressed "sympathy" with Home
Minister Rajnath Singh over his comments that he has come to know through media that Joint Investigation Team (JIT)from Pakistan is coming to India to probe Pathankot attack.
"What is surprising in it. The biggest communication gap is not between Islamabad and Delhi. The biggest communication gap is between South Block and North Block. There is a hotline between Delhi and Islamabad but there is no hotline between South Block and North Block," party spokesperson Jairam Ramesh told reporters here.
Ramesh said that when the Naga accord happened, the then Home Secretary was also not aware that it was going to happen. "What can I do. I want to express my sympathies with Rajnath Singh," Ramesh said.
He was reacting to Singh's remarks that he has come to know through media that the Pakistan team is coming. Congress had previously also attacked Modi government latching on to reports that the concerned ministries were not taken in loop during key decisions related to them.
The JIT will arrive in India on March 27 to carry forward its probe into the Pathankot terror, it was announced yesterday.
Asked whether the Pakistan team will be given access to the strategic airbase, the Home Minister said modalities will be worked out once they arrive in India. "Let's wait for Sushmaji (Sushma Swaraj) to be back," he said.
The main opposition party saw "lack of coordination" in the government ahead of the arrival of the Joint Investigation Team from Pakistan.
Senior party spokesman Anand Sharma told reporters that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should have ensured coordination by convening a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security before External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj's visit to Pokhara in Nepal for the SAARC Foreign Ministers Meeting.
The announcement had come after Swaraj's 20-minute meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister's Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz,in Pokhara yesterday.
"There is no coordination in this Cabinet", he said adding that the Defence Minister, the Home Minister and his Minister of state are speaking in differnt voices on the issue.
He was reacting to reports quoting the Home Minister that he had come to know through media that the Pakistan JIT is coming. "Home Minister is not aware of the JIT. His Minister of state is. Defence Minister is saying a different thing".
Seeking to know government's roadmap on Pakistan, Sharma said that the Congress was not opposed to engagement with Islamabad. He, however, said that Pakistan had not fulfilled its commitments in the wake of the 26/11-terror attack.
He wondered as to what understanding has been reached during the meeting of NSAs of India and Pakistan in Bangkok that convinced the Prime Minister to go to Lahore.
