'I'll be happy if India betters relations with certain Asian countries', says LK Advani

A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi slammed Pakistan for spreading terror in South Asia, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stalwart L.K. Advani expressed his desire to see improved ties between New Delhi and Islamabad, while lamenting that Karachi, where he was born was not a part of India anymore.

"There are also some other neighboring countries besides Bangladesh with which we want to improve relations. I will be happy if our relation with this neighboring nation improves. Sindh was once part of India and I was born there but after Independence we lost that part. I will always be unhappy about this," Advani said at India Foundation Awareness programme here.

Hinting indirectly at Pakistan, Advani further said that he wishes to build similar relations with 'that country', which India shares with Bangladesh.

This is not the first time when the BJP patriarch has put forth such thought. Earlier he had said that India is 'incomplete' without Pakistan's Sindh.

"At times I feel sad that Karachi and Sindh are not parts of India anymore. I believe that India appears incomplete without Sindh," Advani had said in January.

Advani had to resign as BJP president after making controversial remarks about Jinnah during his visit to Pakistan in 2005.

"I personally have experienced what referring to Jinnah as a person who basically wanted a secular state with a Muslim majority....," Advani said leaving his statement incomplete, nevertheless giving a clear picture as to what his intentions were.

Advani was also forced to quit after RSS and several leaders within the BJP openly slammed him and demanded his resignation.

Advani had first resigned as party president on June 7, 2005 following widespread criticism from the RSS and right wing outwits over his remarks praising Jinnah.

Less than seven months after he withdrew his resignation, Advani stepped down as party president on December 31, 2005 over the same issue, and on June 2013 Advani resigned again from top party posts over his statements on Jinnah.

-ANI