By IANS
New Delhi : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Wednesday that India wanted to have good relations with all the countries and the “best of relations” with its immediate neighbours.
Speaking from the Red Fort on the 60th anniversary of India’s independence, the prime minister said New Delhi wanted to live in a neighbourhood of peace and prosperity.
“I assure all our neighbours that we in India want peace and the best of relations with all of them,” he said. “I sincerely believe that in the prosperity and well-being of our neighbours lies the key to our own security and progress.”
He also said that New Delhi desired good relations with all the countries, big and small, and of “the East and the West, the North and the South. Today we enjoy good relations with all major powers and all developing countries”.
Manmohan Singh said India had now emerged “as a bridge between the many extremes of the world. Our composite culture is living proof of the possibility of a confluence of civilizations. India will always be a nation bridging the many global divides”.