``If there was any diplomatic lapse in South Africa, it was during the years when Natwar Singh's party and later the United Front were in power'', said BJP general secretary M Venkaiah Naidu. If Prime Minister Atal Behari Had Vajpayee not pointed out to Nelson Mandela that any reference to Kashmir was unacceptable, there would not have been a subsequent apology, he added.

Advising the Congress to keep the nation's interests in mind, Naidu pointed out that since 1993, the United Nations Secretary General had been referring to Kashmir in his annual reports. But the Congress, though it was in power, had kept silent and this had encouraged subsequent references, he said.

In its effort to politicise every issue, the Congress had lost sight of right and wrong, he added. The BJP leader said the party was not surprised at the Congress decision to send special teams to South Africa and China which was obviously meant to rubbish the Government of India from foreign soil.