NEW DELHI: Congress today came down hard on Pakistan for its "unilateral suspension" of peace process, and hoped NDA government has learnt the lesson and will refrain from "unthought, unconsulted" diplomatic moves aimed at building Prime Minister Narendra Modi's persona.
"Pakistan's unilateral suspension of peace process is extremely unfortunate. It is also a grim reminder of how Pakistan time and again has betrayed the peace process and its commitment to resolve all bilateral issues through peaceful negotiations," party's chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said.
He hoped that BJP Govt has learnt their lesson and will "refrained from unthought, unconsulted diplomatic moves" purely aimed at building Modi's "larger than life persona at the cost of compromising our nation's safety and security."
At the same time, Surjewala said Congress stood with all Indians in condemning Pakistan's skewed move to undo the peace process. Another party spokesman Manish Tewari said the government has itself to blame for the development.
"The Government of India has no one but itself to blame for this unfortunate development. Prime Minister Modi's flip flops, U-turns and somersaults over the past 22 months have allowed the Pakistani deep state i.e GHQ-ISI-terror groups orchestra to run circles around India."
"We do hope that this government realizes that diplomacy is not done on the fly by the seat of their pants. Government needs to introspect their failures in retrospect", he added. The sharp reaction from the Congress came close on the heels of Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit's remarks that at present the peace process between India and Pakistan is "suspended".
Former Union Minister and Congress spokesman R P N Singh took a dig at the Prime Minister remarking that the development showed that his "56-inch chest diplomacy has faltered". Making a strong pitch for taking everyone on board on the issue of foreign policy, he told the government that Pakistan's unilateral suspension of the peace process had shown India in poor light.