The main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, which hardened its stand on Pakistan in the wake of Mumbai and Malegaon bombings, warned on Sunday that New Delhi should exercise 'double caution' while resuming talks with Islamabad.
The BJP insisted there was a disconnect between the ruling United Progressive Alliance and popular opinion in the country on terror attacks.
In a statement, BJP chief Rajnath Singh also described a joint mechanism that both leaders agreed to set up to fight terror as a 'fig leaf' for what he alleged were concessions given to Pakistan to resume talks. Last week, Singh had opposed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's scheduled meeting with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf in Havana.
"India should go with double caution on the resumption of Indo-Pak dialogue suspended following the July blasts on Mumbai's trains. There is a total disconnect between the UPA government and the popular public opinion on terror attacks frequently launched in several parts of India," Singh said.
The BJP toughened its anti-Pakistan stand when former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee told a public meeting in Dehradun on September 8, the day serial bomb explosions occurred in Malegaon, that preparations should be made to impose checks on Islamabad for its suspected support to terror.
"The musical chair race of keeping talks on hold consequent to recurring terror attacks against Indian citizens and property and then resuming it after a short while doesn't match with reality of the situation on the ground," the BJP chief remarked.
He recalled that Musharraf had promised to then Vajpayee government in 2004 that Pakistan would not allow its territory to be used for anti-India activities by terror groups.
