Foreign Correspondence

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Prime minister won't budge on Pakistan
Nistula Hebbar / DNA .. March 5, 2010

New Delhi: Under attack from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for his efforts to re-engage Pakistan, prime minister Manmohan Singh did some plain speaking on the issue on Friday, maintaining that dialogue was the only way forward for civilised countries to resolve problems.

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He asserted that he took the decision to restart talks with Pakistan in a “calculated
manner” after weighing the pros and the cons and not under pressure from the United States.

Senior BJP leaders LK Advani and Venkaiah Naidu had subjected the prime minister to scathing criticism over the US’s role in the Indo-Pak talks. The exchanges between him and Advani, in particular, turned sharp and bordered on the personal a couple of days ago.

Getting back at the senior BJP leader, Singh said, “I think we will do a disservice to any government and prime minister of this proud country if we say that such fundamental matters of national security and foreign policy were based on anything but our supreme national interest.”

Singh said US president Barack Obama had never, during his many discussions with him, sought to pressurise India into taking “one position or the other” vis-a-vis Pakistan. He also made it clear that India would not have been isolated in the international community had it not started the dialogue process.

“Dialogue is the only way forward for civilised countries to resolve their problems…The chances of miscalculation can only increase in an environment of no contact.”

He did, however, add that India has insisted that Pakistan must not allow its territory to be used to carry out terror attacks against India.

He denied the charge that he had asked the Saudi Arabian government to act as a mediator between India and Pakistan. “No offer was made seeking mediation, India and Pakistan speak to each other bilaterally, without mediators,” he said categorically.

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_prime-minister-won-t-budge-on-pakistan_1355787