Pak’s anti-terror thrust will set tone for ties: PM

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Apr 8, 2012:  Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday accepted the invitation to visit Pakistan, extended by President Asif Ali Zardari, at a “mutually convenient” time, but told his guest that the people of India would judge the progress in the bilateral ties by Islamabad’s action against terror.

The prime minister later told journalists that he and Zardari shared a “common desire” to improve bilateral relations and would find “practical and pragmatic solutions” to all issues.

Despite the bilateral cordiality over Zardari’s private visit to India, Singh made it clear to him that it was imperative for Islamabad to bring to justice the perpetrators of the November 26, 2008, terrorist attacks in Mumbai, including Hafiz Saeed and prevent anti-India activities emanating from Pakistan.

Zardari stressed the need for addressing all outstanding bilateral issues, including Kashmir, Sir Creek and Siachen.

He invited Singh to visit Pakistan by the end of the year. The prime minister accepted the invitation but refrained from committing himself to a time-frame for the visit, signalling that New Delhi would like to assess the progress in bilateral dialogue in the coming months as well as Islamabad’s actions in the 26/11 case before announcing his tour to Pakistan.

“President Zardari has invited me to visit Pakistan. I would be very happy to visit Pakistan on a mutually convenient date,” said Singh. Singh and Zardari addressed mediapersons after a 40-minute long one-on-one meeting at the prime minister’s residence at 7 Race Course Road here.

“We spoke on all topics that we could have spoken about and hope to meet on Pakistan soil very soon,” said Zardari, who was on a day-long visit to India, primarily for a private pilgrimage to the shrine of Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer, Rajasthan.

Singh said he and Zardari had a constructive and friendly exchange of views on all bilateral issues. “President Zardari is on a private visit and I have taken advantage of this visit to discuss with him all bilateral issues and I am very satisfied with the outcome of this visit,” he said.

Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai later told journalists that “mutually acceptable dates” for the prime minister’s visit to Pakistan would be worked out after making “substantive preparations for it.”

Pakistani Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani had earlier invited Singh for a visit to Islamabad. The invitation was renewed when the two leaders met at Addu Island in the Maldives on the sidelines of the Saarc summit last year. When they again had a brief chat on the margins of the Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul last month, Gilani had asked Singh when he would visit Pakistan. Singh had replied that he would embark on a visit  only after Islamabad took some ‘’solid” actions to address Delhi’s concerns.

 

Courtesy : deccan Herald