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No dilution on cross-border terror: PM
Manmohan has said he made it clear to Pak Prez that rooting out terrorism will remain a precondition for progress of peace process.
Denying any dilution of India’s stand on cross-border terrorism, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said he made it clear to Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf that rooting out the menace will remain a “precondition” for moving forward in the dialogue process.
“I mentioned unambiguously to President Musharraf that the starting point of the dialogue is the commitment given by Pakistan in the January 6 statement that territory under its control will not be used for terrorist activities,” Singh told a press conference here, adding that Musharraf “recognized” the Indian concerns.
Doubts had arisen over the Indian stand because of the absence of an explicit reference to cross-border terrorism in the joint statement issued after the Singh-Musharraf meeting here on Friday.
The Prime Minister otherwise stuck to the description that his meeting with Musharraf represented “a new beginning.” Asked if he discussed any options on the Kashmir issue, Singh replied in the negative. At the meeting, Musharraf reportedly mentioned that there were many options on the issue. The Prime Minister confined himself to saying that India was willing to look at the various options “with an open mind.”
Singh defended his bid to mobilise foreign capital for India’s infrastructure development and brushed aside the charge that he was behaving like “a travelling salesman”. “As Prime Minister, it is my duty to promote India,” he said about his address to top American CEOs at the New York Stock Exchange. Some $150 billion will be needed for India’s infrastructure sector over the next five to seven years.
Singh also referred to the meetings he has had with Jyoti Basu and other Left leaders and said none of them opposed foreign direct investments. The UPA government’s common minimum programme has recognized the need for a doubling, even trebling, of the quantum of FDI inflow into India, he said.
