New Delhi: Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar on Tuesday stoked a controversy by saying that relations between India and Pakistan will improve only if Prime Minister Narendra Modi is being removed from his post.
As per ABP news, while speaking during an interview to a Pakistani news channel, Duniya TV, Aiyar said, “First, it is required to remove Modi, otherwise talks will not move forward. We'll have to wait for four years. These people are very optimistic about Modi, they think that talks will move forward with Modi's presence, but I don't think so."
However, when the journalist said that it wouldn’t be possible, the Congress leader said then ‘Pakistan would have to wait’.
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Meanwhile, reacting to Aiyar's remark, Minority Affairs Minister Najma Heptulla said: "Perhaps Mani Shankar Aiyar forgot that Modi ji was elected by the people. It is a reprehensible comment and we condemn it."
BJP spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi labelled Aiyar as propagandists for the ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) following his public criticism of PM Narendra Modi.
Aiyar's comments come within days of his controversial statements on the Paris terror attacks.
Reacting to the terror attacks in Paris on Friday killing 129 people, Aiyar had said that "the anti-Islam phobia that is being carried out in the western countries should be stopped immediately. The Muslims living in France should be provided with the assurance that they are also citizens of the country."
In addition to expressing remorse, Aiyar said, "we should also think that why this situation has raised?"
Earlier during 2014 General Elections, Aiyar had stirred a massive row when he had mocked Modi for being a tea-seller once. "I promise you that in the 21st century, Narendra Modi will never become the Prime Minister of the country... But if he wants to distribute tea here, we will find a place for him," Aiyar had said at the All India Congress Committee meeting.
