New Delhi, July 11: On Board Air India One, July 11: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said that he had asked influential countries of the G-8 and G-5 to exert pressure on Pakistan to leave the path of terrorism and choose friendship with India.
Dr Singh also expressed hope that he would come out of his meeting with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani next week in Egypt convinced that Pakistan will bring to justice the perpetrators of the Mumbai “massacre” and not allow terrorism directed against India from its soil.
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PM confident India can sustain 8-9% growthThe PM, who returned to New Delhi today after a four-day trip to Italy where he attended the summits of G-8 and G-5 leaders, was speaking to reporters onboard his special aircraft, on his way back home.
Dr Singh said he had taken up the problem of terrorism directed against India from Pakistani soil during his interaction with leaders of the industrialised and emerging economies.
“Wherever I have talked to leaders in the G-8 and G-5 fora, there is appreciation that India has been a victim of terrorism for the last 25 years and there is a lot of evidence (of that emerging from Pakistan). Our appeal is to all the leaders and we have told them put pressure on Pakistan to leave the path of terrorism and take the path of friendship and go forward in the relations with India,” he said.
He was replying to a question whether there has been anything “positive” done by Pakistan on India’s demands after his meeting with President Asif Zardari in Yekaterinburg in Russia last month and whether India was seeking international pressure on Islamabad to check terrorism directed against it from there.
Singh said after discussions with Zardari in Egypt, the High Commissioners in both the countries and the Foreign Offices have talked and Pakistan’s ISI has been talked to.
They have suggested that they would convey the actions they were taking on India’s demands on action against the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror strike, he said.
To a question on the current impasse with Pakistan, he said India and Pakistan were close neighbours. “We can choose our friends but we have no choice about our neighbours. India wants to realise its ambitions on development and that requires peace with neighbours.”
“We will do all that is necessary to resolve outstanding issues that have bedevilled our relations with Pakistan. But that requires evidence that it will deal with terrorist elements who spend all their energy to disrupt and destabilise India,” Singh said.
He said he looked forward to his meeting with Gilani on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Summit in Sharm el sheik in Egypt for exchange of views.
“I do hope that after our meeting we will have a reaffirmation on the part of Pakistan that they will bring the perpetrators of the Mumbai massacre to justice and that they will not allow use of their land to terrorist elements working against India. If they do that we are willing to walk more than half the distance to normalise the relations.”
‘Didn’t intend to hurt Zardari’
In Yekaterinburg, Dr Singh had given a stern message to Zardari in full glare of the media that his mandate was to tell him that Pakistan has to take action to check terror emanating from its soil against India.
However, commenting today on his virtual public snub to Zardari the PM said, “It was not my intention in any way to hurt Zardari Sahib’s feelings.” The PM added that he had not intended to say that in the presence of all the media.
“Let me say that what I had said to Zardari Sahib, I had not intended to say that in the presence of all the media. I simply forgot that the media were present there. It was not my intention in any way to hurt Zardari Sahib’s feelings,” he said in reply to a question.
A few days after the incident, Zardari cancelled his trip to Sharm el sheik in Egypt where he was to meet Singh on the sidelines of the NAM early next week.
Pakistan government denied that the cancellation was due to the incident. Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, who will head the Pakistani delegation, will be meeting Singh now.
‘Obama is very supportive towards India’
Meanwhile, PM Singh has said talk of US President Barack Obama and his administration being not supportive towards India had “no basis”.
“I find President Obama very supportive (towards India). I spent considerable time Friday morning with him during the meeting (G8-G5 in L’Aquila-Italy),” Dr Singh said on board his special aircraft.
“We exchanged notes on a large number off issues while sitting side by side at the meeting. I find President Obama very responsive,” the PM said “There is no basis for any apprehension that the Obama administration is not supportive towards us,” the prime minister added.
Though Dr Singh and Obama did not have any formal bilateral meeting in L’Aquila, they met during and at the sidelines of the G8-G5 meetings. One of the meetings was described as a “pull-aside” by Indian diplomats while another one was described by the PM as “side by side”.
Both leaders exchanged invitations for visits to each other’s countries. While Manmohan Singh will visit the US later this year, President Obama is expected to come to India next year.
–Agencies