New Delhi: Piyush Goyal, the union minister, said on Wednesday that it is "very disturbing" when a prominent figure like Sharad Pawar makes "preposterous statements" about India's stance on an act of terror in Israel.
His comments follow Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Sharad Pawar's assertion on Sunday that India has consistently supported the Palestinian cause, India Today reported.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Piyush Goyal said, "The menace of terrorism has to be condemned in all forms, in any part of the world. It is a pity that a person who has been India’s Defence Minister as well as Chief Minister many times has such a casual view on issues relating to terror."
"Pawar ji was a part of the same government that shed tears on the Batla House encounter and slept while there were terror attacks on Indian soil," Goyal tweeted.
"This rotten mindset has to stop. I hope Pawar ji, at least now, thinks of the nation first," he said.
Previously, Pawar stated that past Indian prime ministers "stood firmly with Palestine" while addressing a conference of NCP members in Mumbai.
"It is very unfortunate that for the first time, our Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) stood with Israel, leaving the real issue over there. He neglected the real issue. We should be clear about our stand. The stand of the NCP should be clear. We stand by the people who originally belonged to that land," Pawar added.
Pawar made his remark days after PM Modi had declared his support for Israel and denounced the attacks carried out by Hamas.