Former foreign minister and veteran Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Yashwant Sinha has dismissed former Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) chief Amarjit Singh Dullat's claim of "goof-up" at the political level during the Kandahar operations.
Speaking exclusively to CNN-IBN, Sinha, who was a member of the Cabinet Committee on Security during Vajpayee's regime, asserted that there was no "goof up" and the decision taken was the best possible one in the given circumstances.
The veteran leader said, "We did not do anything in Amritsar as it would have endangered the lives of the hostages," adding that the government was under "tremendous pressure" at that time.
Sinha also asserted that the decision was taken in consultation with all parties, including the Congress.
This came shortly after the BJP, in a press conference in the national capital, said that all decisions on Kandahar operations were taken in consultation with all the parties.
Addressing the press conference, BJP leader M J Akbar hit out at the Congress asking the party to answer if the then government should have allowed the Air India IC 814 hostages to die.
"Can Congress even today say that all the passengers should have been allowed to die? The decision was taken keeping everyone in loop," said Akbar.
Dulat had said that When the hijacking took place on December 24, the Crisis Management Group (CMG) "goofed up" the entire case by not immobilising the plane when it had landed in Amritsar.
"No one was willing to take a decision and in that confusion no instructions were passed on to Punjab Police which had moved in its personnel. They carried on debating and the plane flew off," Dulat said.
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