Tuesday, June 7 2005 14:45 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: BJP's (Bharatiya Janata Party) ally JDU (Janata Dal United) today (June 7, 2005) refused to comment on L K Advani's resignation from the presidentship of the saffron party but backed his controversial statements about Mohammad Ali Jinnah in Pakistan saying these were based on historical facts and aimed at strengthening Indo-Pak friendship.

"As such, it (Advani's resignation) is an internal matter of the BJP," JDU leader Sharad Yadav said in New Delhi.

Noting that the controversy generated over Advani's remarks was "out of proportion", Yadav said the former Deputy Prime Minister's statements during his Pakistan visit were aimed at strengthening the Indo-Pak friendship.

"He was interacting with the Pakistani people and his statements were intended at strengthening the friendship between the people of the two countries," he said.

"For example, what he said about Jinnah is correct. He only mentioned the good things that Jinnah himself had said," the JDU General Secretary said.

"Advani wanted to convey to the Pakistani people the stress on secularism that Jinnah laid in his speech to the Constituent Assembly after Independence... that, like it is here, there would be secularism in Pakistan," he said.