BJP leader Yashwant Sinha wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, slamming him for planning to speak at a seminar on Nuclear disarmament and stated that the government could not make any policy statement before the elections.
The seminar, “Nuclear Weapons Free World -- From Conception to Reality”, will be held on April 2 and 3 and is being organised by think-tank Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses. Sinha claimed that the Ministry of External Affairs has given Rs 80 lakh to Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) for the seminar.
“You are the head of a lame duck government. We are likely to have a new government and a new Prime Minister is less than three months. What then are you going to say in your inaugural address? Clearly, you cannot make any policy statement at this conference in view of the election code of conduct. If you are going to make only a routine speech then why spend such a large sum of money on a conference of this nature at this juncture?” he wrote in his letter dated March 9.
The former Foreign Minister demanded that the seminar be postponed. He also alleged that most of the speakers were “known anti-India non-proliferationalists”.
“They have not only been bashing India, but have been actively working against our interests. Some of them have been openly supporting the case of Pakistan and have blamed India for the problems Pakistan is facing,” said Sinha.