Rahul Gandhi questions PM Modi's 'hugplomacy' after Pak frees Hafiz Saeed

New Delhi: Ramping up his attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's diplomatic posturing, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday took a jibe at him after Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) terrorist Hafiz Saeed was released from house arrest in Pakistan.

Hafiz Saeed was freed by a Pakistani court earlier this week after nearly a year of being under house arrest. Designated as a global terrorist by the US, Pakistan's pressure on Hafiz Saeed  - mastermind of the deadly 26/11 Mumbai attacks - was seen as a result of PM Modi's diplomatic manoeuvres. Rahul Gandhi however, in a tweet, appeared to question the results of these diplomatic policies. "Narendrabhai, baat nahi bani (it did not work out). Terror mastermind is free. President Trump just delinked Pak military funding from LeT. Hugplomacy fail. More hugs urgently needed," he wrote.

PM Modi has been photographed hugging leaders across the world during his foregin trips. His most noticable hugs were the then-Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif in December of 2015 and with US President Donald Trump at the White House in June this year. Just hours before the meeting, the US had declared Syed Salahuddin of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. Hafiz Saeed had already been designated a global terrorist three years before.

Despite rising pressure on Pakistan however, ground realities remain fertile for a flourishing terrorism network here. Earlier in the year, US  Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had urged Pakistan to increase its role in cracking down on home-grown terrorism. India too continues to blame Pakistan for cross-border terrorism and had reacted sharply to Hafiz Saeed being released - calling it outrageous.