Addressing a press conference today at the Indian Merchant Chambers, Singhal said though a lot of people thought we should have crossed the LOC, the decision of the political leadership not to do so had paid off. He said Pakistan and other countries in the world would have liked to make India a theatre of war, but the deft handling of the situation had prevented that.

Singhal said though it was not our tradition, we should stop talking to Pakistan, especially in view of the torture and dismemberment of our jawans by the enemy. He said Pakistan should be asked to pay the losses India is going to bear on account of the Kargilconflict.

Showering praise on Prime Minister A B Vajpayee's government, Singhal tied himself up in knots over who should be held responsible for the failures which led to the intrusion in Kargil. When asked who was to blame he first said that it was the army that was responsible and not the government. He then tried to wriggle out at the end of the press conference saying he did not want to be quoted on this. He said he had said it in the context of Congress president Sonia Gandhi's criticism of the army. He said it was totally wrong to raise these questions when a war was on.

Singhal warned that Sonia would pay for having criticised the army and government. Instead of praising the indomitable spirit and commitment of our soldiers, Sonia Gandhi had been nitpicking with a view to maligning the government, he lamented.

The VHP has drawn up plans to organise satyanarayan poojas to celebrate the Kargil victory and observe August 14 as Akhand Bharat day.