By IANS,
New Delhi: In a meeting in Bhutan four days ago, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told Pakistani Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani to eliminate trust deficit and asked for expediting action against the perpetrators of the 26/11 attacks, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna informed parliament Monday.
“The Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh) had a cordial and frank discussion with Prime Minister Gilani of Pakistan. He told him that if the trust deficit between India and Pakistan can be eliminated, all issues can be resolved through dialogue,” Krishna said in a suo moto statement on Manmohan Singh’s visit to Bhutan for the April 28-29 SAARC summit.
“He reiterated our serious concerns on terrorism emanating from Pakistan, and urged the Pakistani prime minister to expedite action against the perpetrators of the Mumbai terrorist attack,” Krishna said.
Manmohan Singh told Gilani, “Good neighbourly relations between India and Pakistan were in the interest of both our countries as well as in the interest of the peace, stability and development in the region.”
Krishna said: “He (Manmohan Singh) was assured that Pakistan was serious about bringing these perpetrators to book.”
The foreign ministers and foreign secretaries of the two countries have been entrusted with the responsibility to work out mechanisms on how the trust deficit can be removed, the minister said.
In their first meeting in nine months, Manmohan Singh and Gilani held talks for nearly an hour in Thimpu, Bhutan, and discussed all issues that were coming in the way of normal relations between the two countries.
The two leaders directed their foreign ministers and foreign secretaries to work out modalities to restore trust that could pave the way for “substantive dialogue” between the two countries.
They agreed to think afresh on how to “honestly” take forward their peace process stalled after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack.
Manmohan Singh also held talks with the leaders of Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Bhutan, and Nepal on the margins of the summit.
“The prime minister shared our vision of a prosperous and vibrant South Asia playing its rightful role in shaping the global discourse on issues facing the world,” Krishna said.
“There was a convergence of views on the need to transform SAARC into a truly action-oriented, people-centric and dynamic regional organization,” he added.