By IANS,
New Delhi : Key quotes of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh from his press conference Monday, when he spoke on a range of issues — from Maoist violence and Pakistan to his equation with Congress president Sonia Gandhi and the future of Rahul Gandhi:
On Maoist violence: “If you remember I have always been saying that Naxalism is the biggest internal security challenge. So it is not correct to say that we have underestimated the magnitude of the problem… Naxalite forces get money with which they purchase weapons. Nobody can deny.”
On Rahul Gandhi: “Rahul is very qualified to hold a cabinet post. I have discussed it with him on a number of occasions. He has always been reluctant to give a positive answer. He says he has duties to perform in reviving the Congress party. He is doing a good job. As and when (he is) ready, he will be a very appropriate addition to the cabinet… I sometimes feel that young people should take over. When Congress party makes that judgement, I will be very happy.”
On Pakistan: “Pakistan is our neighbour. It is our obligation to make every effort to normalise relations with India’s neighbours. That’s essential to realise our full developmental potential… Trust deficit is the biggest problem. Unless we tackle that, we can’t make progress. It has been my effort to reduce the gap… We agreed that trust deficit is a major problem blocking progress in the direction of going forward and that it should be our common endeavour to reduce the trust deficit. That’s why we agreed that the foreign ministers should meet…. I am hopeful that this process can move forward. At least, that is the message that I got from talking to the Pakistan prime minister…We are willing to discuss all outstanding issues.”
On Headley: “We have been assured at the highest level of access”.
On his term: “I have been given a work and it is incomplete yet; and till I complete it, there is no question of my retirement…Could do better than I have done but (I am) reasonably satisfied with the pace I have been working (at)…not really bothered about legacy issues. I have a task to accomplish, (I am) doing it to the best of my ability. It is for historians to pronounce judgement on legacy….I am only working to an agenda which serves India to the best of my ability.”
On Sonia Gandhi: “Not an iota of truth that (there is) distrust between me and and Congress president. Sonia Gandhi is the chairperson of the UPA (United Progressive Alliance), she is the president of Congress and I am a Congressman so there is no question of any gap between me and the Congress president… There is no dearth of effective coordination. Invariably we meet every week to discuss issues that need to be discussed. There is no reason to believe that there is no effective coordination between the Congress party and the government.”