Dr Singh’s meeting with Sharif invited some criticism at home as prior to his meeting Sharif in a private conversation with some Indian journalists was reportedly to have described D Singh as complaining to the US President Obama like a Dehati Aurat (rural woman) instead of directly talking to him. D Singh’s complain was relating to recent export of terror from across the border aided by Pakistani Army.

Without mentioning the principal Opposition party, BJP or its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, the National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon said : “when forty self-styled experts and some political groups say do not talk to Pakistan until ideal conditions exist and all terrorism stops it betrays a lack of self-confidence. That is precisely what the terrorists and their sponsors in the Pakistani establishment want, for us not to talk to hose in Pakistan who might differ from them.”

Delivering he Sardar Patel Memorial Lecture organized by All India Radio here on Tuesday, the NSA said : “Our Pakistan policy still faces the dilemmas that Patel’s generation faced : of how to prevent the enemies of India from having their way.”

Sardar Patel, who was the first Home Minister of Independent India in the Nehru Cabinet, is often referred to as the Iron Man who worked for merger of princely states with India. He is often quoted by the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi as his ideal.

Citing Patel’s tactful handling of riots at Amritsar border in August 1947, Menon quoted him saying : “fight your enemies at a time and place of you choosing but do not make innocents, the people (or refugees in that specific case), victims of you policy. And use real politik to influence the behavior of you friends and enemies.”

Menon, in this context heaped praises on he BJP leader and former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and also he present Prime Minister Dr Singh for following the same policy. He also lauded the efforts of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Patel differed with Nehru on Kashmir issue and accused Nehru of unnecessarily referring Kashmir issue to the United Nations. But Menon defended Patel by saying : “Today, in effect, we follow Patel’s prescription against taking the Kashmir issue to the UN and have been successful in preventing international meddling in what is our internal affair. As for Pakistan, she is committee, albeit reluctantly, since the Simla Agreement of 1972 to deal with us bilaterally on all issues, as was Patel’s preference, and we will hold he feet to that.”

“We can now engage the world from a much stronger position than in Patel’s days,” he said.

On India’s border problems with China, Menon said that Patel sought a review of our long-term defence needs. Citing Patel’s letter to Nehru on November 7, 1950, he quoted : “political and administrative steps….to strengthen our northern an northeastern frontiers; measures of internal security in the border area; improvement of communication in these areas and with frontier outposts; and (a strengthening of the) policing an intelligence of frontier posts.”
Menon said that India has progressed on all these lines in the last single decade as suggested by Patel.

He referred to China as a valuable neighbour and talks on settling boundary dispute though dialogue was progressing satisfactorily. Besides China being India’s largest trading partner, thee are over 10,000 Indian students pursuing their study in China.