Sudheendra Kulkarni attends Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri's book launch in Mumbai

Hinting at the Shiv Sena, Kulkarni said Mumbai should not let any organisation mar the values of the city.

"We shall defend the values that Mumbai has stood for..We should not let any organisation to trample on those values," Kulkarni said.

He said both Mahatma Gandhi and Muhammad Ali Jinnah had their 'karma bhoomi' (work place) in Mumbai.

"Dialogue Sena activists on Monday threw ink on BJP leader Sudheendra Kulkarni.

Sena is an ally of the BJP in the Maharashtra government.

Kasuri thanked Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis for providing him security since his arrival in Mumbai.

The ink attack incident took place just hours after Kulkarni's inconculsive meeting with Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray over the book launch programme.  The Sena has threatened to disrupt the event and has written to the director of Worli's Nehru Centre, the launch venue, to cancel the show because of the Pakistan connection.

Later,  Shiv Sena  justified its act as party spokesperson Sanjay Raut  said that this was just a soft attack and it will continue such attacks as long as Pakistan is honoured in India.

"This is not ink but the blood of our soldier. The ink attack is just a soft reaction on Kulkarni," he said.

Shiv Sena's act has, however, drew strong criticisms from different political parties.

Kasuri's book "Neither a Hawk, Nor a Dove: An Insider Account of Pakistan's Foreign Policy" is to be launched at Mumbai's Nehru Centre in an event organised by the Observer Research Foundation, a think tank head by Kulkarni, who is a former BJP advisor.