Yashwant Sinha slams Manmohan Singh for calling Gilani a 'man of peace'

New Delhi, Nov 10 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Yashwant Sinha today criticised Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh for calling his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani a 'man of peace.'

"Our Prime Minister should have avoided saying that Pakistan Prime Minister is a man of peace," Sinha told the media here.

"Yesterday our External Affairs Minister SM Krishna said trust deficit shrinking. Now Manmohan Singh called Gilani a man of peace; it is reflective of mindset which have been evidence since 2004 when Dr. Singh became prime minister of India," he added

"If you look all the Summit they have had, if you look all the statement which they issued, they have been letting off Pakistan one after another," he added.

"After Mumbai terror attack in 2008, Manmohan Singh made some ringing announcement in Parliament that India will not talk to Pakistan etc; and Pakistan has not moved an inch forward on cross border terrorism and Rahman Malik is saying that there is no evidence against JuD," he said

"Why are we bending backwards every time. Our army has repeatedly pointed out that Pakistan has continued to train and recruit terrorists and we are giving certificates to Pakistan, I don't understand Manmohan Singh's mindset," he added.

Earlier in the day, Manmohan Singh after meeting Gilani called him a man of peace.

During the one-on-one meeting on the sidelines of the SAARC summit in Maldives, Dr. Singh also said that both countries had wasted a lot of time in the past on acrimonious debates.

He said that the destinies of the people of both the countries were inter-linked and declared that the next round of talks between the two state heads would definitely make headway.

"We have wasted lot of time in the past in acrimonious debates; the time has come to write a new chapter in the history of our relationship. And I am very happy that Prime Minister Gilani, fully endorses this view, that we have an unique opportunity and therefore the next round of talks should be far more productive, far more result oriented in bringing the two countries closer to each other, than ever before. I thank him, said Manmohan Singh. (ANI)