Govt distances itself from Vaidik's meet with Hafiz Saeed

New Delhi: The government on Monday distanced itself from the reported meeting of an Indian journalist with the 26/11 attack accused Hafiz Saeed in Pakistan, saying it had “not sanctioned” it and asserted there is no change in its stand on the alleged terror mastermind. Congress leader Digvijay Singh raised in the Rajya Sabha the issue of journalist Ved Pratap Vaidik meeting Saeed and asked whether the government had sanctioned it, leading to an uproar. [caption id=“attachment_1618627” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. PTI[/caption] The government had nothing, “directly, indirectly or even remotely”, to do with any journalist meeting Saeed, Union finance minister Arun Jaitley responded, adding that the “government has not sanctioned permission to anyone for meeting him (Saeed).” He also said that Saeed was a terrorist and involved in terrorism against India. “For the government, there is no change of stand as far Hafiz is concerned. For India, Hafiz is an accused in the terror attack. He is a terrorist who conspired to attack India,” information and broadcasting minister Prakash Javadekar told reporters outside Parliament. The minister said there is no “track-2 or track-3 diplomacy” involved and that for the government, “Hafiz is a terrorist. Rajya Sabha leader has already clarified it in the House.” Reports said Vaidik, a freelance journalist, had met the Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief in Lahore on 2 July while touring Pakistan with a group of journalists and politicians invited by a peace research institute. India has accused Saeed, the founder of Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba, of orchestrating the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks in which 166 people were killed. PTI