PM takes up with Krishna his ‘unnecessary’ criticism of Pillai

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is understood to have taken up with External Affairs Minister S M Krishna his public criticism of Home Secretary G K Pillai’s remarks on the involvement of the ISI in the 26/11 attack.

Government sources told The Sunday Express that Krishna was told that his public statements, made on July 21, were inappropriate and unnecessary. The PM conveyed the message after the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on Friday morning. The CCS met to discuss India’s strategy on China and Bhutan.

Krishna had told The Indian Express that “the timing of Pillai’s remarks could have waited for my arrival from Pakistan as India-Pakistan talks are too sensitive”. He had, however, also said that there was “nothing wrong with what Pillai had said”, and that “Pillai is one of (India’s) finest civil servants”.

In remarks made at the Idea Exchange programme at The Indian Express earlier this month, Pillai had said “the ISI... (was) literally controlling and coordinating (the attacks) from the beginning till the end”.