PM gave clean chit to ISI, should apologise: Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “invitation” to Pakistani JIT, which included an ISI official, amounted to giving a “clean chit” to the spy agency for the Pathankot attack and demanded that he tender an “apology” for the “monumental” foreign policy failure.

The Centre’s decision to invite a Pakistani Joint Investigation Team to probe the Pathankot airbase attack was a “monumental failure” and a “stab” in the back of “Bharat Mata”, Kejriwal told a press conference here.

He alleged that Modi had entered into a deal with his Pakistan counterpart Nawaz Sharif during his Lahore visit in December last year, and sought to know its details “in the country’s interest”.

“The Prime Minister called over ISI officials despite being aware that it was behind the Pathankot terror attack which amounted to a clean chit. Now the JIT has reportedly claimed that India had itself staged the attack. No prime minister has capitulated before Pakistan the way Modi ji has,” Kejriwal said.

After such an “abject surrender”, who will believe India’s long-held position that the Pakistani spy agency is behind terror strikes in India. “It’s a monumental foreign policy failure,” the AAP chief said.

“But what is the reason behind this failure? The country wants to know about the deal struck between Modi ji and Sharif. The country is being sold. The Prime Minister should apologise to the people of the country,” Kejriwal said.

The Delhi CM also took on BJP and RSS through a series of tweets and pilloried Modi for “shaming” India in front of Pakistan.

“BJP/RSS people chant Bharat Mata ki Jai but stab Bharat Mata in the back by calling ISI to India (sic),” he tweeted.

The Pakistani media had earlier reported that after returning from India, the JIT claimed that Indian authorities “failed” to provide evidence to prove that Pakistan-based terrorists had stormed the IAF base.

The attack took place on the intervening night of January 1 and 2. An ensuing gunbattle had lasted 80 hours leaving seven security personnel and four terrorists dead.