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PM: Pakistan should show visible results in its probe

Special Correspondent

“India, Pakistan will have to jointly face scourge of terrorism”

Terrorism will figure in talks with Obama
PM hopes allies will return to UPA fold

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday said Pakistan should show “visible results” in its probe into the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack if it wanted the composite dialogue process to resume.

“Pakistan should show visible results with regard to investigation in the 26/11 event and show that the government of Pakistan is doing everything possible to bring the culprits to book,” Dr. Singh said, while responding to a query on Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari’s suggestion for an early resumption of the dialogue.

He was talking to journalists on the sidelines of the civil investiture ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Dr. Singh said Islamabad should convince New Delhi about its “sincerity and determination” to deal with the menace of terrorism.

On the Lahore police training centre terror attack, he said India and Pakistan would have to jointly face the scourge of terrorism. “I sincerely wish the [Pakistani] government and people will have the courage and resources to defeat the forces of terrorism,” he said.

The Prime Minister, who later left for London to attend the G-20 summit on the international financial crisis, said terrorism would be a “major issue” during his talks with U.S. President Barack Obama, whom he will meet for the first time on April 2. He said all bilateral and regional issues and India’s relations with its neighbours, besides the menace of terrorism, would figure in the talks.

Asked about the G-20 agenda, Dr. Singh said the world economy, facing the worst recession this year, should be put on the path of sustained growth. He said India, which recorded a nine per cent growth rate, should once again resume the sustained growth.

When his attention was drawn to recent jolts suffered by the ruling UPA coalition when some of its partners left, Dr. Singh smilingly said: “This is not the last word.” Dr. Singh hoped that the allies would come back to the UPA fold.

Asked for his comment on invoking the National Security Act against Varun Gandhi, Dr. Singh said it had nothing to do with the Central government and added that the U.P. government took the decision.

“If what is being attributed to Varun is true, then it is very, very unfortunate,” he said. Dr. Singh said Varun had a distinguished legacy of Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi who had given their lives in promoting communal harmony and secularism.

“I feel sad and speak more in sorrow than in anger,” he added.

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