Senior BJP leaders and Union ministers, including Rajnath Singh and Sushma Swaraj, paid rich homage to Atal Bihari Vajpayee, recalling the former prime minister's diplomatic exploits at a poetic soiree hosted by the Delhi party's unit Sunday. Inaugurating the event, Home Minister Rajnath Singh recalled the 1999 Kargil war when Pakistani infiltrators tried to enter Indian territory and the Army "strongly retaliated", a Delhi BJP statement said.

"The Indian Army strongly retaliated sending them(back). At that point of time Atal ji asked the Indian Army to not to enter their territory as this is not our culture and hence I always say he was a person with a large heart ," he was quoted as saying. Singh said Vajpayee had "superb diplomatic skills" and recalled that there was a time when China used to stake claim on Sikkim.