"Comments in a democracy are free," the prime minister told journalists on his way home from Vietnam, at the end of a three-nation Asian tour.

Manmohan Singh was asked about the attack by the opposition on interlocutors Dileep Padgaonkar, Radha Kumar and M.M. Ansari after they said that Pakistan needed to be involved in the resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute.

Padgaonkar has said that he stood by the remark.