Congress welcomes Rahul statement on Pak

Congress today welcomed Rahul Gandhi's statement that India cannot be compared to Pakistan in world affairs and said the country should compete with developed nations instead of being obsessed with Pakistan.

"We should not be obsessed with Pakistan. Rahulji has correctly said India cannot be compared to Pakistan in the world affairs," party spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed said.

"There are some political parties, who give greater importance to Pakistan due to political and communal reasons," he added.

Ahmed also said India is much higher than Pakistan in the world order and it should be rather competing with developed nations.

Similar was the refrain of a senior AICC functionary, who said, "We support this. The party has no reason to disagree with this. He (Rahul) has said the whole thing in wider
perspective."

The leader was responding to queries on Gandhi's statements on Pakistan made in a press conference in Shimla yesterday.

"We are giving too much time and importance to Pakistan in our minds. To my mind, it deserves not half the importance we are giving it.

"...I do not wish to talk even for five minutes about Pakistan...India cannot be compared to Pakistan in the world affairs. India has a larger role and status internationally. Pakistan shall occupy a small place in our diplomatic policy," Gandhi had said in reply to a volley of questions there.