Malik remarks don't reflect Pak views: Khurshid

India on Sunday dismissed Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik’s controversial remarks during his visit to New Delhi, saying they cannot be taken as a formal policy statement of his country.

Malik had made several contentious remarks during his visit, including equating Mumbai terror attacks with the Babri Masjid demolition and describing Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) terrorist Abu Jundal as an Indian intelligence operative.

External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said that Malik’s remarks did not appear to be carefully worded or well discussed.

“If the Pakistan President said it, I would have put it in a different category. Leaders of Pakistan will articulate matters in different ways but I don’t think it would have been a discussed, thought out, carefully worded statement. This is something he may would have felt, responded in heat of a moment but I would not think it would be a formal articulation on behalf of Pakistan,” Khurshid told PTI in an interview.

“It is not that he is nobody. He is an important part of the Pakistan government. But I think you should not take it as formal policy statement of Pakistan at this stage,” Khurshid said. He said Pakistan’s selective approach on bringing to justice those involved in the Mumbai carnage was “not acceptable”.