Stop using terror as State policy

Sending a clear message to Pakistan, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said it has to shed its mindset of using terror as a state policy to normalise relations with India.

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Winding up his trip to Pittsburgh for the G-20 summit, he talked tough ahead of the Indo-Pak Foreign Ministers’ meeting in New York on Sunday. Neither side is expecting too much from the talks. ‘India’s message is that India seeks to normalise its relations with Pakistan. But the only obstacle is that Pakistan should give up its old attitude regarding the use of terror as an instrument of state policy,’ Manmohan told a press conference here. India wants Pakistan to act against the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks last November. ‘We have supplied our material and evidence for them to carry out investigations. Although the tragedy took place in India, the conspiracy took place in Pakistan. Pakistan has admitted to this. We want them to bring to book the culprits involved in the 26 November attacks,’ he said. Manmohan Singh, who turned 77 today, looked relaxed despite his hectic schedule as he responded to a volley of questions ranging from the impact of UN Security Council resolution on Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Iran’s controversial nuclear programme to global response to the economic crisis and climate change. The Prime Minister asserted that there was no change in India’s stand on Pakistan since the Sharm-el-Sheikh talks in July with his counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani, a position he had affirmed in Parliament. He recalled his statement that India would move the extra mile to normalise relations with Pakistan provided it took proper action on the terror issue. His comments came ahead of Sunday’s meeting between Foreign Minister S M Krishna and his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi during which Pakistan’s action against terror emanating from its soil will be reviewed. Before the ministerial meet, Foreign Secretaries Nirupama Rao and Salman Bashir will hold discussions on the issue. He said India and Pakistan are neighbours and they have an obligation to move as neighbours. On how he looked forward to moving ahead with the relations with Pakistan after the Sharm-el-Sheikh episode, the Prime Minister said, ‘If you read my statements in Parliament, I have explained the Government’s position and I think there is no change on this.’ Asked about the Security Council Council resolution asking all non-NPT signatories to join the treaty as non-nuclear weapon states, he said President Obama had assured him that the move was not directed against India. ‘We have been assured (by the US) that this is not a resolution directed against India and that the US commitment to carry out its obligations under the civil nuclear agreement, which we have signed with the United States, remains undiluted,’ Singh said. ‘That (commitment on nuclear deal) we have been assured officially by the United States Government,’ Singh said. Singh said he had met the US President last night and also discussed some important issues during lunch today when he was seated to Obama’s right. On the Iran issue, he said Tehran should fulfil all its obligations as an NPT signatory as it enjoys rights under it. ‘Our position is that Iran as a signatory to the NPT has all rights to peaceful use of atomic energy and also should carry out its obligations,’ he said on being asked about the US, UK and France threatening to slap sanctions against Tehran for secretly pursuing uranium enrichment facility. On Afghanistan, he said the US and European powers have been appreciative of the role played by India in that country. ‘We have not supplied any arms, we are also helping them in construction and financing of projects in power health and education sectors. Until today we have committed USD 1.5 billion in Afghanistan’.