Sunday, September 11 2005 10:20 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: India yesterday (Sept 10, 2005) criticized the remarks of US Congressman Tom Lantos against External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh, dubbing these as 'unparliamentary' and 'crude'.

"The language used by Congressman Lantos while referring to India's Foreign Minister during a Congressional hearing is, to say the least, unparliamentary," External Affairs Ministry spokesman said in response to a question.

"It is discourteous and crude and reflects negatively only on the US Congressman himself," the spokesman said.

Lantos, the ranking Democrat on the House Committee on International Affairs, on Thursday criticized Natwar Singh's reported statement that he is against the Iranian nuclear issue being referred to the UN Security Council.

"New Delhi must understand how important their cooperation and support is for US initiatives to counter the nuclear threat from Iran," Lantos said.