New Delhi, June 10 (FN Agency) Iran’s foreign ministry has watered down a portion of the text relating to the talks between visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval regarding the controversy over the remarks on the Prophet. In its readout issued yesterday, the Iranian foreign ministry had said the issue of the Prophet remarks had been raised during the talks between the Iranian FM and the Indian NSA, and that Doval had reaffirmed the Indian government and officials’ respect for Prophet Mohammad and said that “offenders will be dealt with, at the government and related bodies levels, in such a way that others will learn a lesson”. The sentence was modified late on Wednesday night to say that “Referring to the negative atmosphere created by some people in disrespecting the holy Prophet of Islam, the Indian NSA reiterated the respect of the Indian government and officials for the Prophet saying that it will be treated as a lesson for others”.
Asked about the content of the Iranian readout on Thursday, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi declined to comment and said that he was given to understand that the Iranian readout has been pulled down. “I don’t like to comment on comments between senior dignitaries…My understanding is that what you are referring to in a readout has been pulled down….Even if it is I do not want to get into what was said or not.” He also reiterated that the remarks by the now-expelled and suspended BJP functionaries do not reflect the views of the Government of India and that action has been taken against the two persons.“On the issue of the Prophet remarks, let me emphasise that we’ve made it pretty clear the tweets and comments do not reflect the views of the Government of India,” Bagchi said.”This has been conveyed to our interlocutors as also the fact that action has been taken by the concerned quarters against those who made the comments and tweets. I really do not have anything additional to say on this,” he added.Asked whether the issue had been discussed between the External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and the Iranian FM, he said the issue did not arise during the talks between the two ministers.
Asked about Qatar saying that it wants an apology from the Government of India, the spokesperson said that the Indian Embassy in Qatar “has made clear our position” and that he did not want to add to it. “We put out our perspective,” he said.The Embassy of India in Qatar on Sunday said in a statement that the Ambassador “conveyed that the tweets do not, in any manner, reflect the views of the Government of India. These are the views of fringe elements.” A host of Islamic nations issued statements condemning the utterances about Prophet Mohammad by now-expelled and suspended BJP functionaries – Naveen Jindal and Nupur Sharma. The nations include Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Oman, Indonesia, Jordan, Iraq, the Maldives, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Kuwait, Iran, Qatar, Iraq and the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, Pakistan.Cairo-based Islamic institution Al Azhar, the GCC and the OIC, and the ruling party of Turkey have also condemned the remarks. Qatar, Iran, Kuwait, Malaysia, Indonesia and Pakistan were among countries that summoned the Indian ambassadors to issue protest notes.