Summary BJP presses government to get Hagel withdraw anti-India remarks.
NEW DELHI (Online) - Indian government has annoyed by remarks of Chuck Hagel, who will take over as President Obama s Defense Secretary.
In a sharp rebuttal to Senator Hagel, the Indian embassy in Washington DC said, "Mr Hagel s remarks are in sharp contrast to the viewpoint of the Obama Administration that has always been in praise of India s developmental role in Afghanistan and in fact has been pressing New Delhi to do more in Afghanistan," Indian media reported on Wednesday.
Two days ago, a video of a 2011 speech made by Hagel was uploaded by an online paper. He said, "India for some time has always used Afghanistan as a second front, and India has over the years financed problems for Pakistan on that side of the border."
The video of Senator Hagel s speech was sent by the office of powerful Republican Senator John Cornyn to top leaders of the Indian American community. "In light of our shared interest in the US-India relationship, thought you would want to see this," said the email sent by Mr Cornyn s office with the video.
The Bharatiya Janata Party said Wednesday the government must put pressure on Washington and get the new US defence secretary withdraw “unconditionally” a statement he had made in 2011 blaming India for creating trouble for Pakistan in Afghanistan.
Chuck Hagel, who was confirmed as the new defence secretary by the Senate on Tuesday night, had said that India has financed problems for Pakistan in Afghanistan. Hagel had made the remarks during a speech at Oklahoma s Cameron University in 2011, which has surfaced now.
BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said Hagel’s statement is “outlandish, bizarre and baseless.”
Rudy also expressed surprise over Hagel giving a clean to Pakistan, which has harboured in the backyard of its military base al Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden, who was responsible for killing of more than 5000 Americans in the World Trade Centre attack.
“BJP is concerned at the indifference of the Indian government by not reacting to Hagel. BJP demands that Government of India uses its diplomatic pressure to see that Mr Chuck Hagel retracts his statement unconditionally,” Rudy said.
Hagel, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, had said: “India for some time has always used Afghanistan as a second front, and India has over the years financed problems for Pakistan on that side of the border.”
His remarks are considered in sharp contrast to viewpoint of Obama Administration, which has always been in praise of India s developmental role in Afghanistan and in fact has been pressing New Delhi to do more in Afghanistan.
Reacting to this, the Indian Embassy in Washington had said, “Such comments attributed to Senator Hagel, who has been a long-standing friend of India and a prominent votary of close India-US relations, are contrary to the reality of India s unbounded dedication to the welfare of Afghan people”.
Outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has said Hagel would be sworn in to succeed him on Wednesday morning.
