Political pressure, controversy hours before PM Manmohan Singh meets Nawaz Sharif

New Delhi: The immense political pressure on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as he heads into a meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif was evident today when BJP leader Narendra Modi tore into him casting aspersion on his ability to talk tough with Pakistan on terror.

"I wonder if he will meet the Pakistan PM confidently today...will he be able to ask him when Pakistan will stop aiding terrorism...will he be able to question Nawaz Sharif on the Indian soldiers who are brutally killed," Mr Modi, who is the BJP's prime ministerial candidate, said at a massive rally in Delhi. (Read: "Can the PM face Nawaz Sharif confidently?" asks Narendra Modi)

He also referred to controversial comments that Mr Sharif allegedly made, off the record, while talking to journalists yesterday.

"At a meeting with Indian and Pakistani journalists, Nawaz Sharif compared our PM to a village woman who went whining to Barack Obama. How dare he insult our PM? We may have our differences internally on policies, but he is  the PM of a billion people, " Mr Modi said.

Mr Sharif had reportedly used the term "village woman" as an allegory while airing the grievance to those present that Dr Singh had brought up Pakistan in his interaction with US president Barack Obama. His contention reportedly was that a third party must not be involved in India-Pakistan affairs.

Hamid Mir, the Pakistani journalist who reported the comment yesterday, clarified on Twitter today, "PM Nawaz never said anything derogatory against Manmohan." He also tweeted that it was a joke shared at a breakfast meeting.

The Congress has demanded that Mr Modi apologise to the nation for "showing the Prime Minister in poor light."

The BJP has repeatedly urged Dr Singh to scrap the proposed talks with Pakistan in view of gruesome attacks on Indian soldiers this year, most recently on August 6, when five soldiers were killed in a Pakistani ambush.

That pressure became even more intense after three terrorists attacked a police station and an Army camp on Thursday, killing 10 people. The attack came just a day after the PM took a major political gamble confirming his meeting with Mr Sharif despite the objections at home.

After Thursday's attack, BJP leader Sushma Swaraj tweeted, "No dialogue over dead bodies. Please cancel your meeting with Nawaz Sharif." (Read)

But the PM said in a statement that "Such attacks will not deter us and will not succeed in derailing our efforts." (Read full text of PM's statement)