Prime minister elect Narendra Modi's invite to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif received flack from many leaders of the opposition, some even calling the move hypocritical.
In March 2013, when the UPA government invited the then Pakistan Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf BJP president Rajnath Singh had said "Our soldiers were killed by Pakistani forces. And, instead of registering strong protest, what is our government doing? ...Our external affairs minister is hosting lunch for him and he is being served biriyani".
Today when this move by Narendra Modi is being seen by some as a positive step with respect to Indo-Pak relations, major leaders of the opposition have criticised this move questioning that if Rahul Gandhi had done the same had he been prime minister, he would be labelled as a soft prime minister unable of taking firm decisions and bowing down to foreign pressure.
BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar jumped in to defend the party's move and told ANI, "Atalji had said you can choose your friends but you can't choose your neighbours,Modiji is following just that."
Here are senior leaders of the opposition who have voiced their opinion regarding the matter:
Many have also criticised the BJP for being hypocritical:
