Jaswant Singh in Pakistan: No Regrets on Jinnah Book

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KARACHI: India's former foreign and finance minister Jaswant Singh today said he has no regrets over what he wrote about Muhammad Ali Jinnah in his controversial book last year.

Singh, a veteran politician who was expelled by his right-wing Bharatiya Janata party last year in August after the release of his book 'Jinnah: India partition and Independence', told a news conference in Karachi that he stood by what he had written.

Singh has made some controversial opinions in the book and also praised Jinnah.

The official launching of the book will take place tomorrow in Islamabad at what is expected to be a high profile event attended by ministers, diplomats and parliamentarians.

Singh also felt that there was a need for the Indian and Pakistan governments to work to take back the relations to where they were before the 1965 war.

"There is a lot of common things between the two countries and relations need to be improved. Even the Kashmir issue can be resolved through dialogues."

He reiterated that both countries should continue to hold talks.

To a question, Singh, who was foreign minister in 2004 when Vajpayee was Prime Minister, said that Pakistan and India would have to resolve all their outstanding issues themselves.

He said he didn't see any role for a third party mediator in improving relations between Pakistan and India.

The former Indian external minister said two neighbors should issues visas for the whole country instead of few cities.

"India was ready to grant visas to Pakistanis for the entire country during the Musharraf rule," he said, adding that Islamabad had not given a positive response in this regard.

Jaswant also supported the private initiative between the two leading media groups of Pakistan and India entitled 'Aman ki Asha'.

"It is a good initiative at the people to people level and will help supplement the efforts at the government level to improve ties between the two countries," Jaswant said.

He said he was on a literary tour and would return home from Karachi on Thursday.

"I want to tell the people why I wrote this book," he said.

No regrets over writing about Jinnah: Jaswant Singh - The Times of India

 

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Tear down this wall

Indo-Pak 'Berlin Wall' must be brought down: Jaswant Singh - Oneindia News

Karachi, Apr.14 (ANI): Former Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh has said it is time that the 'Berlin Wall' erected between India and Pakistan following the 1965 war be demolished.

Buzz up!
Interacting with media persons during a press conference after releasing his controversial yet popular book: "Jinnah: India-Partition-Independence" here, Singh said people from both sides of the border have long been trying to come closer and it is time for making a new start in the relationship of the two neighbouring countries.


"Masses at both sides of the border are longing to come close to each other, and therefore we must let go of the shadows of history and let the new dawn arrive. We must create a strong relationship with each other, otherwise the poverty at both sides of the border cannot be wiped away," Singh, who was expelled from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for praising Jinnah in his book, said.

Commenting on the US and the North Atlantic Territory Organisation's (NATO) intervention in India and Pakistan's issues, Singh said it is for both New Delhi and Islamabad to resolve their differences amicably.

"The US is around 8,000 miles away from Pakistan, whereas India is only eight minutes away, therefore the people of India and Pakistan must resolve their differences themselves," The Daily Times quoted Singh, as saying.

The book was released in August 2009 in India and soon became the subject of controversy.

It contains controversial opinions of Singh, claiming that Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru's centralised policy was responsible for partition and that Jinnah was portrayed as a demon by India for the partition.

The book has already received commendation from noted writers and experts Mark Tully, Meghnad Desai, Ram Jethmalani, Namwar Singh and Hameed Haroon, who believe that Jinnah's role needed to be reassessed.

During his stay in Pakistan, Singh would also release his book in Islamabad and visit a famous Hindu temple, the Hinglaj Mandir in Balochistan. (ANI)