By IANS,
New Delhi : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Monday said India was “committed” to talk to Pakistan on all issues, including Kashmir but Islamabad first needed to dismantle terror infrastructure from its soil.
Addressing a joint press conference with visiting US President Barack Obama here, Manmohan Singh said a “moderate and peaceful Pakistan is in the interest of India, South Asia and the world as a whole”.
“India is committed to resolving all outstanding problems with Pakistan but simultaneously Pakistan should ensure that it moves away from terror-induced coercion. We will be happy to engage productively,” the prime minister said at the news conference at Hyderabad House here.
Asking Pakistan to dismantle terror infrastructure from its soil, Manmohan Singh asserted: “You cannot simultaneously talk and have at the same time terror machinery existing as ever before.”
“We are not afraid of talks with Pakistan. We are not afraid of the K-word,” the prime minister said, referring to the dispute over Kashmir.
“I have always maintained that a strong, peaceful, moderate Pakistan is in the interest of India, South Asia and the world as a whole”.
President Obama answering a question on India-Pakistan ties said the US would not mediate on the Kashmir issue but was ready to play “any role”.
“Dialogue between India and Pakistan may not begin on the particular flashpoint (Kashmir). I believe that it is in the interest of India and Pakistan to reduce tensions between themselves and the US cannot impose solutions to these problems,” Obama said.