Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said India wants to resolve all outstanding issues with Pakistan through dialogue for the sake of “peace and prosperity of our people”.
He also rejected the notion of American tilt, saying that in an inter-dependent world, India wants good relations with “all the major super-powers” like the U.S., Russia and China in its own “enlightened national interests”.
In an interview to Malaysia’s New Straits Times ahead of his visit here that began on Tuesday, Dr. Singh has said, “India is committed to resolving all outstanding issues with Pakistan through dialogue in the interest of peace and prosperity of our people.”
Recalling his meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani in Bhutan in April on the sidelines of SAARC Summit, Dr. Singh said both of them had tasked their Foreign Ministers and Foreign Secretaries with the responsibility of working out modalities for restoring trust and confidence and paving the way for a substantive dialogue on all issues of mutual concern.
He was responding to a question whether he envisages a significant reduction in tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours in the near future.
On other foreign policy issues, Dr. Singh was asked whether there was a shift in India’s international relations because of its “tilt” to America when it has traditionally been seen as a champion of non-alignment.
“We are not tilting in any one direction. The foreign policy of India is an expression of our enlightened national interests,” Dr. Singh responded.
“In the globalised world that we live in, the inter-relations and inter-dependence of nations has increased enormously. Therefore, we seek good relations with all major super-powers — the U.S., Russia, China, Japan,” he said.
With regard to the condition of international economic situation, Dr. Singh said it is “not really in robust health” and there are uncertainties on the horizon.
“Therefore, on the promise that G20 held out, I think a lot more remains to be done to realize it,” he said, adding the reform of the international financial institutions needs to be pushed to a faster pace than ever before.
Warning of the biggest risk of the “very fragile” growth process derailing, the Prime Minister said “therefore, it is absolutely essential that all major countries of the world should commit themselves to balanced, sustainable economic growth.”
