India
oi-Prakash KL
New Delhi, Jun 9: Iran has pulled down an earlier statement over its Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian being told by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval that those who made the controversial remarks against the Prophet “would be taught a lesson”.
The Iranian foreign ministry website has done away with the line, as per NDTV.
Days after condemning the controversial comments on Prophet Mohammed made by BJP leaders Nupur Sharma and Naveen Jindal, Iranian Foreign Minister Abdollahian, who is on a three-day visit to India, said, “Pleased to meet PM Modi, FM Jaishankar and other Indian officials to advance our bilateral strategic dialogue. Tehran & New Delhi agree on the need to respect divine religions & Islamic sanctities & to avoid divisive statements. determined to bring relations to new heights,”
The Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi on Thursday said that Prophet remarks did not come up during the discussion with S Jaishankar. “We have made it pretty clear the tweets and comments do not convey the views of the government. This has been conveyed to our interlocutors as also the fact that action has been taken by the concerned quarters against those who made the comments and tweets. I really do not have anything additional to say on this,” the official said.
On asking about the claim in an Iranian readout that said that after Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian raised the issue of controversial remarks on Prophet Mohammad with NSA Ajit Doval on Wednesday, the latter said that offenders will be dealt with in such a way that others will learn a lesson, Bagchi said: “My understanding is that what you are referring to in a readout has been pulled down.”
The BJP on Sunday suspended its national spokesperson Nupur Sharma and the party’s Delhi unit media head Naveen Jindal for allegedly making derogatory comments on the Prophet.
