Manmohan Singh-Nawaz Sharif talks: Digvijay Singh takes on BJP, says 'dialogue is the only option'

Congress leader Digvijay Singh today criticized the BJP for raising objections to the proposed meeting between Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif following the dastardly terror attacks in Jammu region.

Singh, while condemning today’s dastardly attacks, said both Pakistan and India are victims of terror and the two sides must come together to fight them instead of blaming each other.

He said former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had during the NDA regime initiated the talks with Islamabad even after the 1999 Kargil conflict.

“When NDA was in government. Even after Kargil, the talks were held and Atalji himself initiated the talks. So, dialogue is the only option,” he said.

Condemning Thursday’s twin terror strikes in Kathua and Samba Districts of Jammu and Kashmir, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today reiterated its earlier stand that terror and peace talks can’t be mixed.

“We condemn the dastardly twin terror attacks in Kathua and elsewhere, because, this shows that Pakistan continues on its strategy to strike at will through this proxy war or terror. And, that’s why in this backdrop, the talk of the Indian Prime Minister with the Pakistan Prime Minister is absolutely uncalled for,” said BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar.

He said that Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has himself assured the nation through both houses of Parliament after 26/11 that we will not hold talks with Pakistan till Islamabad takes credible action against terror.

“But what we are seeing today is Pakistan’s land is being used to conduct terror attacks in India. So, this being the case the BJP always believes that you can’t have terror and peace talks together,” he added.

The attack comes a day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh left for the U.S. yesterday, where he is scheduled to meet his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif on Sunday for talks.

In a major attack, terrorists dressed in army fatigues have killed at least 12 people in a police station in Hiranagar in Kathua district and at an Army cantonment nearby this morning.

Over a dozen people are injured and more casualties are feared.

The militants first attacked a police station in Hiranagar of Kathua district.

“So far the information we have received is that a group of terrorists numbering either three or four attacked the police station at Hiranagar at around 6:45 in the morning. In that incident, four policemen were killed, one ASI was injured and a civilian was killed,” said Union Home Secretary Anil Goswami.

The militants later intercepted a truck on the highway, boarded it and forced its driver to move towards Jammu. The militants stopped the vehicle near the gate of an army camp in Samba and attacked the camp.

The militants started firing inside the army area, initiating the encounter with the security personnel.

A gun-battle is still on. Further details are awaited.