Press conference was not acrimonious: Krishna

ISLAMABAD - Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna on Friday sought to play down reports of Thursday’s joint press conference with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi as being acrimonious.

When asked by ANI whether he saw the press conference as being full of acrimony, Krishna said: “I don’t think so. The acrimony was not by the principal actors, but by those who were putting questions. There was acrimony.

Krishna was referring to the aggressive questions and posturing of mediapersons, both Indian and Pakistani.

It maybe recalled that Pakistan Foreign Minister Qureshi responded rather harshly to one question posed by an Indian journalist on Hafeez Saeed.

Qureshi made a direct reference to a recent statement made by Indian Home Secretary G.K. Pillai, saying that the timing of it, had left Islamabad quite disappointed.

Pillai had said that the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) had had a role to play in the 26/11 terror attack from the beginning to the end.

In effect, Qureshi appeared to suggest that Pillai was no different to Saeed in terms of making statements inimical to the progress of bilateral ties between India and Pakistan. (ANI)