BHUBANESWAR: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has hit out at the Congress for "orchestrating endorsements" from Pakistani leaders for electoral gains and said the opposition party often let national interest suffer when it came to dealing with Pakistan.
In an exclusive interview to PTI here, the prime minister also slammed the Congress for statements by its leaders questioning the surgical strikes carried out by the Indian Air Force in Balakot in response to the 2019 terror attack in Pulwama.
"Well, politicians from Pakistan are entering the electoral discourse of India by endorsing the Congress party's 'shehzada'," Modi said in response to a question on Pakistani leaders commenting on elections in India.
Former Pakistani minister Chaudhary Fawad Hussain had shared a video of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on social media and praised him.
"Perhaps the Congress party thinks orchestrating such endorsements will serve it well. That is how disconnected they are from ground realities. Further, it is also clear why such people in Pakistan think Congress is good for them. The Congress has often let our national interest suffer vis-a-vis Pakistan," the prime minister said.
Modi also listed statements by a Congress leader claiming that Pakistani terrorists were not responsible for killing Indian troopers and another asking India to show respect to nuclear-armed Pakistan.
"A Congress leader says that Pakistani terrorists were not responsible for killing of our brave policemen. Their chief minister asks for proof of surgical strikes even after five years. Their senior leader says that India should be careful as Pakistan has nuclear bombs. Can anyone accept what Congress leaders are saying in the campaign," the prime minister said.
Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar, in an old interview, had said India should show respect to Pakistan as it has nuclear weapons which could be used against India.
Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy has raised doubts over the Balakot surgical strikes by Indian Air Force after the Pulwama attack in February 2019, saying nobody knows if something like this has taken place.