Loud Thinking March 23, 2015 at 11:37PM

NDTV

After Pakistan Day Reception, General VK Singh Tweets of ‘Disgust’ and ‘Duty’
Edited by Abhinav Bhatt | Updated: Mar 23, 2015 23:56 IST

VK Singh looks on as Pakistani Envoy Abdul Basit speaks during a reception on Pakistan National Day at Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi (PTI Photo)
New Delhi:
Just after he attended a reception by the Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit in Delhi, union minister and former army chief General VK Singh tweeted of “disgust” and “duty”.

#DUTY The force that binds one morally or legally to one’s obligations

Vijay Kumar Singh (@Gen_VKSingh) March 23, 2015

#DISGUST To sicken or fill with loathing

Vijay Kumar Singh (@Gen_VKSingh) March 23, 2015

The tweets are being seen as rebellion by the minister, who was asked to attend the event by the government, and an embarrassment for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. After he was allegedly asked to clarify his tweeter, the minister tweeted that he was “disgusted to see certain sections of the media are twisting this issue.”

The Pakistan envoy’s dinner was to mark his country’s Republic Day. Among the attendees were Kashmiri separatist leaders like Mirwaiz Uaar Farooq, the chairman of the Hurriyat Conference. Though invitations to the separatists are standard practice, the envoy’s remark irked India.

“I do not think the Indian government will have objections,” Mr Basit said this morning of his invite to Kashmiri separatist leaders.

“There should be no scope for misunderstanding or misrepresenting India’s position on the role of the so- called Hurriyat. Let me reiterate there are only two parties and there is no place for a third party in resolution of India-Pakistan issues,” rebuked Foreign Ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin.

However, the government then decided that General Singh, who is Minister of State for External Affairs, should attend the dinner. He had been invited a few days ago.

PM Narendra Modi tweeted that he had greeted his counterpart Nawaz Sharif for Islamabad’s Republic Day, which was marked after seven years with a parade in the Pakistan capital.

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