Pakistan National Day: Congress, Omar question Modi's greetings to Imran

Hours after Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday evening announced he had received greetings from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the occasion of Pakistan National Day, opposition leaders have demanded answers from the government.

The demands came even as the Modi government has adopted a tough line on Pakistan National Day celebrations, by boycotting the celebratory event held at the country's high commission in New Delhi as Islamabad had invited separatist leaders from Jammu and Kashmir.

Khan tweeted on Friday that he had received a message from Modi. He tweeted, “Received msg from PM Modi: 'I extend my greetings & best wishes to the people of Pakistan on the National Day of Pakistan. It is time that ppl of Sub-continent work together for a democratic, peaceful, progressive & prosperous region, in an atmosphere free of terror and violence.'”

Khan welcomed the message from Modi, tweeting, “I welcome PM Modi's message to our people. As we celebrate Pakistan Day I believe it is time to begin a comprehensive dialogue with India to address & resolve all issues, esp the central issue of Kashmir, & forge a new relationship based on peace & prosperity for all our people.”

Within minutes of the tweets by Khan about receiving greetings from Modi, Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi took to Twitter to question the government.

Chaturvedi tweeted, “I would hope the @PMOIndia clarifies that what Imran Khan has tweeted is the correct version of greetings exchanged or whether if they have been exchanged at all, especially after the function was boycotted in India by the govt. The nation would want to know.”

Chaturvedi also tweeted screenshots of videos showing guests arriving for celebrations at the Pakistan High Commission being asked to boycott the event. Continuing her offensive on the Modi government's handling of ties with Pakistan, Chaturvedi tweeted about events like the invitation of then premier Nawaz Sharif for Modi's swearing-in in 2014 and his unscheduled visit to Pakistan in December 2015. Chaturvedi labelled these actions as the “hypocrisy of this govt which shamelessly politicises national security”.

National Conference leader Omar Abdullah also tweeted extensively about the greetings sent by Modi to Khan. Like Chaturvedi, Abdullah referred to purported government officials stopping people from attending the Pakistan National Day celebrations in New Delhi.

Abdullah tweeted, “If only the spooks & other interested players stopping people from attending the Pak National Day event had also stopped PM Modi from sending his greeting to PM Khan we wouldn’t look so damn confused about our relations with Pakistan.”

Late on Friday night, news agency ANI tweeted, quoting sources, that Modi had sent a “customary message” to Pakistan on the occasion of its national day.