The Maharashtra Congress Tuesday demanded the Centre scrap an agreement with Aramco for a proposed refinery project in the state alleging that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's comments in Pakistan after the Pulwama attack had "rubbed salt on the wounds of Indians".
The USD 44 billion project is, however, popularly known as Nanar (proposed site) refinery in Maharashtra's political discourse.
Maharashtra Congress general secretary Sachin Sawant made the demand even as the crown prince is scheduled to reach India Tuesday night and hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday.
The crown prince, colloquially known as MBS, was in Islamabad on February 17.
Sawant said Saudi Arabia signed a slew of investment agreements worth USD 20 billion with Pakistan even after a terror outfit based in that country, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), carried out an attack in Pulwama on February 14 killing 40 CRPF troopers.
"He (crown prince) also said there (in Pakistan) that he is Pakistan's self-declared ambassador...This is like rubbing salt on the wounds of Indians," Sawant told reporters here.
He claimed the prince had also stated that the list of terrorists should not be politicised.
Sawant claimed it meant Saudi Arabia had opposed India's demand to declare JeM chief Maulana Masood Azhar a terrorist.
"In such a case, an agreement is being signed with Saudi Arabia for the refinery project. It is our demand that the agreement be scrapped immediately," Sawant said.
"The Modi government should take a firm position on this. Shifting the project from Nanar will not suffice, but the agreement itself has to be scrapped," he added.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had Monday announced that the proposed refinery project would be shifted elsewhere to a place "acceptable to the people".
Sawant said the decision to shift the refinery project was a victory of the locals who he claimed had been opposed to it.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)