Dehradun: Lashing out at Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto for his personal attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Saturday termed his comments as an "insult on 135 crore Indian people".
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the most popular leader of the world. The comment of the Pakistan Foreign Minister is a direct insult to the 135 crore people of India," he said.
He added that Pakistan's economy is on the verge of collapse and such ridiculous comments are just an attempt to divert attention. "Pakistan's economy has become a joke and they're on the verge of destruction, so they're trying to divert attention from all these by making such ridiculous statements," said the Uttarakhand CM.
Hazrat Sayed Naseruddin Chishty, the Chairman of All India Sufi Sajjadanshin Council and successor of spiritual head of Ajmer Sharif Dargah too condemned Pakistan for the venomous language used by its Foreign Minister and Deputy Foreign Minister against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and India at large. "Don't ever compare the great country of India with your unstable country because The Constitution of India guarantees freedom of religion to all," he said and added that he and every Muslim in India feel proud to be Indians.
Bilawal Bhutto's comments had followed a response to a question by Minister for External Affairs S Jaishankar from a Pakistani journalist, who accused India of spreading terror, and Jaishankar had said, "... It is the ministers of Pakistan who will tell how long Pakistan intends to practice terrorism." In response to Jaishankar's remark, Bilawal unleashed a series of personal attacks on PM Modi and hit out at the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
In an official statement, the External Affairs Ministry too condemned the comments of the Pakistani Foreign Minister. "These comments are a new low, even for Pakistan. Pakistan foreign minister's frustration would be better directed towards the masterminds of terrorist enterprises in his own country, who have made terrorism a part of their state policy. Pakistan needs to change its own mindset or remain a pariah," said Arindam Bagchi, the official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs.
He also stated that Pakistan is a country that glorifies Osama bin Laden as a martyr and shelters terrorists like Lakhvi, Hafiz Saeed, Masood Azhar, Sajid Mir and Dawood Ibrahim. —ANI