PM: India will carry on with Pakistan dialogue

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-07-30 03:38

NEW DELHI: India's prime minister told parliament on Wednesday he would continue to try and improve ties with Pakistan, a sign the government was looking to move towards resuming a stalled peace dialogue with Islamabad.

"I sincerely believe it is our obligation to keep the channels of communication open (with Pakistan)," Manmohan Singh said in an address to legislators.

Singh signed a joint statement with his Pakistani counterpart Yusuf Raza Gilani this month agreeing to delink the issue of terrorism from a broader peace process halted by India after November's attack on Mumbai.

"Unless we talk directly to Pakistan we will have to rely on a third party to do so... Unless you want to go to war with Pakistan, there is no way, but to go step-by-step... dialogue and engagement are the best way forward," Singh said.

India broke off a five-year-long formal peace process after the attacks on Mumbai by Pakistan-based militants who India says must have been helped by Pakistani security agents.

Islamabad denies state agencies had any role in the attacks that killed 175 people.

Singh's move was slammed by opposition leaders as diluting India's stand that linked a resumption of peace talks with Pakistan acting against the planners of the attack.

In Pakistan Gilani praised Singh's parliamentary speech and said both of them had agreed in their meeting in the Egyptian city of Sharm El Sheikh that dialogue was the "only way forward" for the two nuclear-armed old rivals.

"The Prime Minister (Gilani) commended Dr Manmohan Singh for his bold vision of peace and prosperity in South Asia and the statesmanship that he has demonstrated," according to a statement from Gilani's office on Singh's speech.

Singh's new Pakistan policy has been viewed even within a section of his Congress party as risky in India where distrust of its neighbour runs deep and any concession is viewed with suspicion.

But some experts say Singh's move was not really surprising given the strong election victory of his party in May which gave the government a freer hand to deal with Pakistan.

"There is little doubt that the Congress (party) and the government are on the back foot due to opposition pressure, but they will go ahead with dialogue and if India wants peace in Pakistan, a dialogue is unavoidable," strategic affairs expert Amulya Ganguly told Reuters.

Pakistan wants India to return to peace talks without conditions. The United States also wants the two sides to return to a dialogue so that Pakistan can concentrate on fighting the Taliban and al Qaida militants on its western borders.

Singh had also drawn flak for agreeing to include in the joint statement a reference to the Pakistani province of Baluchistan, where Pakistan accuses India of fomenting an insurgency. New Delhi denies the charge. But he said India had nothing to hide on Baluchistan.

"The UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government needs no lessons from the opposition on tackling terrorism," he said to the thumping of desks from ruling party lawmakers.