PM pulls up Ramesh for remarks against other ministries

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today reportedly pulled up environment minister Jairam Ramesh for his remarks against the home and defence ministries in Beijing on Saturday.

Singh has told Ramesh not to comment on functioning of other ministries when he spoke to the minister soon after his return this morning from Beijing.

During the telephonic conversation, Singh told Ramesh that it was ''advisable for cabinet colleagues not to make comments on the functioning of other ministries, especially with regard to India's relationship with important neighbours like China,'' sources in the prime minister's office said.

The prime minister's blunt message to the environment minister came after Ramesh said that the home ministry was ''overly defensive'' and ''alarmist'' in its approach towards entry of Chinese companies in India.

''There is no confusion in our policies towards China and we continue to strive for constructive engagement with Beijing,'' Singh told Ramesh.

Ramesh, while talking about the India-China warmth developed during the Copenhagen Summit on Climate Change, had suggested that the home ministry needed to be ''much more relaxed'' in its approach to Chinese investments in India.