New Delhi, Aug. 20: External affairs minister S.M. Krishna has tasked foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai to bridge the communication gap between his ministry and that of Sushil Kumar Shinde’s that is located across the road atop Raisina Hill.
Krishna and his team are fuming that Shinde and home secretary R.K. Singh kept the ministry of external affairs (MEA) out of the loop over evidence Indian intelligence agencies claimed to have unearthed on Pakistan’s alleged involvement in inciting Northeast people to leave different parts of India in panic.
Sources said Krishna and senior MEA officials were upset that both Shinde and Singh went public with the evidence on an issue of bilateral foreign relations with a neighbouring country without consulting South Block.
The timing of the home ministry (MHA)’s revelations has also troubled Krishna and his senior diplomats. They are apprehensive the development will overshadow Krishna’s visit to Islamabad for foreign minister-level talks next month.
MEA has for at least the past two years complained routinely of the home ministry keeping it either in the dark over important developments or issuing statements without consulting South Block on issues that have an impact on India’s international relations.
“There is no consultation mechanism and no unified policy between MEA and MHA on handling such issues. It is like the right hand doesn’t know what the left does,” complained a source, adding that beyond “hotlines” being set between Indian and Pakistani Prime Ministers or senior army officers it had become as important to put in place a “hotline” between India’s home and foreign secretaries.
Shinde also discussed the issue with his Pakistani counterpart Rehman Malik. Home secretary Singh, a Bihar cadre IAS officer, said the Indian home minister conveyed to Malik that New Delhi would share with Islamabad all evidence related to certain groups and individuals who uploaded morphed images and videos.
The unilateral nature of the home ministry’s announcements is consistent with how time and again during UPA 2, the ministry has called the shots on India’s relations with Pakistan.
South Block officials are livid that their home ministry counterparts are hell-bent on damaging four years of hard work that Indian diplomacy has put in to paint Pakistan into a corner on the terror issue after the 26/11 attacks.
“The world would laugh at us if for everything that goes wrong within our territory we blame Pakistan. The present instance betrays how our intelligence agencies failed to first detect and then react appropriately. The home ministry, by blaming Pakistan, is trying to save its own skin and incompetence,” said a source.
Sources said it wouldn't gain India any brownie points against Pakistan if it shouts from rooftops about something that it should have been capable of managing on its own.
