Online News Paper

NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will on Wednesday defend the joint statement with his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani agreeing to de-link the issue of terrorism from future composite dialogue.
The joint statement issued after the two leader met in Sharm-el-Sheikh in Egypt on July 16 also had a reference to Balochistan, where Pakistan accuses India of fomenting an insurgency. New Delhi denies the charge.
Although, the Indian PM sees it as part of the efforts to improve ties with Pakistan but the opposition has been gunning for him, calling the joint statement as a ‘sell out’ to Islamabad.
Opposition parties including the BJP and Left saw the statement as a departure from New Delhi’s stand that a resumption of dialogue could only take place if Pakistan acted against the militants it believed were behind last year’s Mumbai attacks.
Singh appeared at a new conference shortly afterwards, ruling out resumption of talks with Pakistan until the Mumbai attackers were brought to justice. But critics said the damage had been done.
The BJP slammed the government both inside and outside Parliament, with its leader L K Advani saying the government had “capitulated” and conceded too much and led a walkout of his party in the Lok Sabha.
“The Prime Minister must answer why he agreed to a joint statement that disrupts a national consensus that dialogue cannot resume against Pakistan unless strong measures against militants are taken,” Sushma Swaraj, BJP’s leader in Lok Sabha said.
The CPI(M) said there was “new confusion” now after action on terror was de-linked from dialogue, while the CPI supported the government saying there was no shift in India’s policy and that resumption of talks was important.
Ahead of the debate in Parliament, the Congress has closed ranks behind him on the approach to Pakistan.
“There is no issue at all. The party is firmly behind the prime minister,” Congress spokesman Janardhan Dwivedi told reporters.
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee also clarified that there was “no dilution” in India’s position.
But analysts said many members of party saw his policy on Pakistan as risky in a country where distrust of its nuclear-armed neighbour runs deep and any concession is viewed with suspicion.
“Privately there is enormous pressure from within the party on Manmohan Singh for signing that joint statement, but they will stick together as resuming peace talks with Pakistan is very much on the cards,” said Amulya Ganguli, a political analyst.
Both countries have broken off a four-year-long formal peace process after the attacks on Mumbai, which India blamed Pakistan-based militants were behind the attacks.
Islamabad denies state agencies had any role in the Mumbai attacks that killed 175 people and says it will prosecute those accused of involvement in the attacks.
But Pakistan wants India to return to peace talks without conditions such as action against Mumbai attack planners and militant groups.
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.
Reflecting its continuing concerns over New Delhi, Pakistan said India’s launch of its first nuclear-powered submarine capable of carrying ballistic missiles was “detrimental to regional peace and stability.