By IANS,
New Delhi: With the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) protesting against the “capitulation” to Pakistan on cross-border terror, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asserted Friday that there was “no dilution in India’s stand on terrorism” and underlined that “meaningful dialogue” will depend on Islamabad taking action against the 26/11 attackers.
In a statement in parliament Monday within hours of his return from attending the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Egypt, Manmohan Singh said engagement is “the only way forward” to realise the “vision of a stable and prosperous South Asia”, but made it clear that any “meaningful dialogue” will depend on Islamabad fulfilling its anti-terror pledge “in letter and spirit”.
The prime minister also said that the timing, place and form of the dialogue will depend on “future developments” and underlined that India was willing to go “more than half way provided Pakistan creates the conditions for a meaningful dialogue”.
“Whether, when and in what form we broaden the dialogue with Pakistan will depend on future developments,” Manmohan Singh told Lok Sabha about his meeting Thursday with his Pakistani counterpart Yousaf Raza Gilani at the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh.
“For the present, we have agreed that the foreign secretaries will meet as often as necessary and report to the two foreign ministers, who will meet on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly,” he said in identical statements in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.
“I hope that there is forward movement in the coming months,” he said.
Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani led a walkout of BJP members from the Lok Sabha in protest against Manmohan Singh’s statement, saying it compromised India’s position on the sensitive issue of cross-border terrorism.
“You have delinked terrorism and the composite dialogue. Why have you taken seven months (after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks) to decide on this?” Advani asked, adding: “We will have a structural debate, but as a mark of protest I would like my party to walk out to this capitulation.”
The prime minister, however, vigorously defended his position, saying: “It’s not a dilution of our stand. It’s a strengthening of our stand.”
Pakistan must take effective against terrorists regardless of these processes that may lead to the resumption of the dialogue, he told the Rajya Sabha after reading out the statement in the Lok Sabha.
The BJP response was subdued in the Rajya Sabha, with Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley accusing Manmohan Singh of “breach of trust”.
Speaking about his meeting with Gilani, Manmohan Singh said: “I conveyed to him the strong sentiments of the people of India over the issue of terrorism, especially the terrorist attacks in Mumbai.”
“I also conveyed to Prime Minister Gilani that sustained, effective and credible action needs to be taken not only to bring the perpetrators of the Mumbai attack to justice, but also to shut down the operations of terrorist groups so as to prevent any future attacks,” he added.
With the contentious formulation on delinking terrorism from the composite dialogue creating a controversy in India, the prime minister reminded Pakistan about its 2004 anti-terror pledge.
“As the joint statement says, action on terrorism should not be linked to the composite dialogue process, and, therefore, cannot await other developments. It was agreed that the two countries will share real time, credible and actionable information on any future terrorist threats,” he said.
“It has been and remains our consistent position that the starting point of any meaningful dialogue with Pakistan is a fulfilment of their commitment, in letter and spirit, not to allow their territory to be used in any manner for terrorist activities against India,” he stressed.
The prime minister’s statement echoed the 2004 anti-terror pledge Pakistan gave to India that formed the basis for the resumption of dialogue between the two countries that year – nearly three years after the attack on the Indian parliament in which Pakistan militants were allegedly involved.
The joint statement at the end of talks between Manmohan Singh and Gilani Thursday took many by surprise, with critics and opposition parties seeing in it a dilution of India’s stand on cross-border terrorism. Unlike in the past, the joint statement did not even mention the 2004 anti-terror pledge.
Manmohan Singh informed the house that India was reviewing the dossier of investigations into the Mumbai attacks provided by Pakistan. He also told parliament about Gilani’s assurance that Pakistan will do everything in its power to bring the perpetrators of the Nov 26 attacks to justice.
“He also told me that there is consensus in Pakistan against the activities of these terrorist groups, that strong action is being taken and that this is in Pakistan’s own interest,” Manmohan Singh maintained.