VK Singh looks on as Pakistani Envoy Abdul Basit speaks during a reception on Pakistan National Day at Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi (PTI Photo)
Just after he attended a reception by the Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit in Delhi, union minister and former army chief General VK Singh tweeted of "disgust" and "duty".
The tweets are being seen as rebellion by the minister, who was asked to attend the event by the government, and an embarrassment for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. After he was allegedly asked to clarify his tweet, the minister tweeted that he was "disgusted to see certain sections of the media are twisting this issue."
The Pakistan envoy's dinner was to mark his country's Republic Day. Among the attendees were Kashmiri separatist leaders like Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the chairman of the Hurriyat Conference. Though invitations to the separatists are standard practice, the envoy's remark irked India.
"I do not think the Indian government will have objections," Mr Basit said on Monday morning, of his invite to Kashmiri separatist leaders.
"There should be no scope for misunderstanding or misrepresenting India's position on the role of the so- called Hurriyat. Let me reiterate there are only two parties and there is no place for a third party in resolution of India-Pakistan issues," rebuked Foreign Ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin.
However, the government then decided that General Singh, who is Minister of State for External Affairs, should attend the dinner. He had been invited a few days ago.
PM Narendra Modi tweeted that he had greeted his counterpart Nawaz Sharif for Islamabad's Republic Day, which was marked after seven years with a parade in the Pakistan capital.