M A I N   N E W S

Pranab meets PM, says PC a valued colleague

New York, September 25
In an unusual meeting on foreign soil forced by the raging 2G controversy back home, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had an hour-long meeting here today to sort out issues, after which Mukherjee said he would have to take "expert opinon" on the Finance Ministry note that made some controversial comments about P Chidambaram.

At a press conference after the meeting, Mukherjee called Chidambaram "our valued colleague", but made it clear that he would make any comments on the issue only after he talks to the Home Minister, Law Minister Salman Khurshid and other party leaders.

Mukherjee said he had to go through all the papers and find out what is the legal implication of it.

Advancing his arrival here from Washington after completing all engagements there, Mukherjee met the PM at the New York Palace Hotel and snapped at a reporter who tried to seek details, notwithstanding his caveat that he would not be commenting on a domestic issue on foreign soil. "Why should I make comments on domestic issues outside India. I am not a fugitive. I am not leaving the country for all time to come. I know you have infinite inquisitiveness. I am not here to satisfy your infinite inquisitiveness,” he said.

The meeting comes against the backdrop of a raging controversy back home after the surfacing of a Finance Ministry note through the RTI, which had said that the 2G scam could have been avoided if Chidambaram as the Finance Minister had insisted on auctions and seen that the spectrum was not sold at 2001 price. — PTI