"We were sleep-walking and suddenly this shock has woken us up," said Salman Khurshid. File
Alleging that the Centre was "sleepwalking" when political developments were unfolding in Afghanistan, former External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid today said that when the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was in power, an "enormous" amount of money was spent for building, re-building institutions in Afghanistan, "giving them a chance to see democracy blossom".
Speaking to reporters here today, Mr Khurshid said, "What is happening in our neighbourhood in Afghanistan is disappointing for us. It is certainly disappointing because, during the times when we (Congress) were in government during the UPA-1, an enormous amount of money was spent by us on building, re-building institutions in Afghanistan, giving them a chance to see democracy blossom there and that clearly seems to have suffered a major setback."
"Now, is that coincidental, is that accidental or is it something that we should have anticipated or at least prepared for, in the past few months. Our view is that we didn't do that. We were sleepwalking and suddenly this shock has woken us up," he added.