India ‘regrets’ Emergency

India says it regrets the difficult times Pakistan is passing through and that it hopes the country will return to normalcy soon.

India said on Saturday that it regretted the difficult times Pakistan was passing through and said it hoped that the country would return to normalcy soon.

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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee called a crisis meeting to discuss the implications for India of the imposition of emergency in Pakistan.

“We regret the difficult times that Pakistan is passing through. We trust that conditions of normalcy will soon return permitting the transition to democracy and stability to continue,” the MEA spokesman said.

The Congress expressed hope that the turbulence in Pakistan would settle soon. “Whatever happens in Pakistan is always a matter of concern for us. We have been very anxious that democracy should emerge there,’’ said Veerappa Moily, AICC media department chairman.

The BJP asked the Centre to put pressure on Musharraf to restore democracy. The Left said it was a setback for democracy. CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat said: “The people of Pakistan will not support such an anti-democratic step.”