Nutwar's foot and mouth disease!

India's external affairs minister, Natwar Singh (nicknamed 'Nutwar' by The Acorn) is fast gaining notoriety for his penchant for putting his feet in his mouth. His statements on India's position vis-a-vis sending troops to Iraq have left much to be desired about his abilities to handle a sensitive ministry like external affairs.

Here is what he said on Friday in Washington after a 60-minute meeting with the US Secretary of State Colin Powell,

"There is a resolution of the last Parliament on this issue in which we had given our opinion that we were against sending troops to Iraq. Now the situation has changed. There is a resolution unanimously passed in the United Nations and there are Arab members in it. We will look at it very carefully"
[emphasis mine]

And now, here is what he said today in a prepared statement at the Indian embassy in Washington,

"The question of sending Indian troops to Iraq does not arise. Government's position on this issue is based on national consensus, reflected in our parliamentary resolution. No request has been made for sending Indian troops."

As far as I'm concerned, this is 'Nutwar' Singh speaking with his foot in his mouth!!