Putting an end to the two-day impasse in Parliament over the meeting of journalist Ved Pratap Vaidik with a most wanted terrorist and the chief of Jama'at-ud-Da'wah, Hafiz Saeed, in Pakistan, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said the Government is waiting for a report on the issue from the High Commission in Islamabad.

After the Opposition parties continued to raise voices in both Houses over the issue, Swaraj said in a suo motu statement the allegation that the Government facilitated the meeting is baseless.

“The Government of India totally disapproves of this meeting of Ved Pratap Vaidik... The Government condemns this meeting with the chief accused of Mumbai terror attack,” she said in Rajya Sabha.

‘Diplomatic misdventure’

She has sought a full report from the Indian High Commission in Pakistan and it will be shared with the House, the minister added.

Earlier, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the Government has no role in the meeting of a private individual with Saeed.

“It is a diplomatic misadventure of a private individual.” The BJP resisted the efforts by the Congress to corner it over the meeting.

The Congress reiterated that Vaidik is close to the BJP and is active with a right-wing think tank.

BJP leaders distributed an article by Ved Pratap Vaidik to journalists in which he praised Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi to counter the allegation.

Embassy role

Gandhi told journalists outside Parliament that the question is did the Indian embassy facilitate the meeting or not.

“We are curious to find out if the Indian embassy has facilitated this event. If they helped this gentleman in any way… That’s what we are curious about,” he said.

Both Houses witnessed uproarious scenes over the issue in the morning.

But the Opposition benches looked satisfied after the reply from the External Affairs Minister.

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