The Hindu : National : Committed to resolving issues with Pakistan: Manmohan

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 30, 2005

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National

Committed to resolving issues with Pakistan: Manmohan

By Amit Baruah

NEW DELHI, MARCH 29. The Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, said today that he looked forward to his meeting with the Pakistani President, Pervez Musharraf, in the capital next month. India was committed to finding a "lasting solution" to all outstanding issues with Pakistan.

Dr. Singh told the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) president, Shujaat Hussain, that the Indus Waters Treaty was a symbol of cooperation between India and Pakistan. An official statement quoted the Prime Minister as saying that India was "duty bound to implement in letter and spirit all bilateral agreements."

"He expressed the hope that technical experts from both sides can find a way out in dealing with differences on irrigation projects and water sharing," the statement continued, without directly referring to the Baglihar dam dispute.

The Prime Minister told a delegation led by Mr. Hussain that he hoped to continue the discussions he had initiated with Gen. Musharraf in New York last year. "History obliges us to seize all opportunities to pursue peace. We cannot change borders, but in a globalised world borders should not matter," Dr. Singh was quoted as saying.

"Our common enemy is poverty, ignorance and disease. We should devote all our resources to fighting poverty. Our generation has an obligation to the future," he told the Pakistani delegation.

According to the statement, the visitors told the Prime Minister that there was "tremendous goodwill" in Pakistan in favour of the composite dialogue and peace process with India.

They expressed the view that cricket matches, cultural and business interactions, increased people-to-people contact had created an environment in which "bold steps" could be taken by the political leadership to resolve all outstanding issues between the two nations.

Stating that there was now a genuine turnaround in the thinking and mindset of the people in both countries, the visitors urged the leaders of both nations to "seize the moment" and work for lasting peace.

Mr. Hussain and his delegation also called on the President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, and the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson, Sonia Gandhi today. Mr. Kalam suggested that the youth exchange programme between the two countries should become a permanent feature of relations between the two countries, a Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesman said.

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