The Hindu : Front Page : We'll test the waters: Manmohan

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 04, 2006
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We'll test the waters: Manmohan

Harish Khare

India to share information on Mumbai blasts with Pakistan

On board Prime Minister's Aircraft: "Pakistan will have to walk the talk," asserted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh when asked about the prospect of Islamabad's cooperation in nabbing the Mumbai blast culprits.

Dr. Singh was replying to a specific question about the usefulness of the joint mechanism [proposed to be set up in the Havana Declaration] in view of the Mumbai police's assertion of Pakistani involvement in the July 2006 blasts, and Islamabad's contention that the joint-mechanism was not about handing over suspects.

"We have set up this mechanism. How else can we ask for information except through a mechanism like this? We have evidence that we will offer Pakistan, we will discuss with Pakistan on the basis of that evidence. We will test the waters as the Foreign Secretary said," observed the Prime Minister in his interaction with journalists aboard the special flight on way back from South Africa.

Alluding to Pakistan's obligations in regard to the terror attacks in India, the Prime Minister pointed out: "In our joint statement there is an explicit condemnation of the Mumbai blasts, following that there is also mention of cooperation that our two countries will undertake to control this menace. We will share that information with Pakistan and ascertain how sincere they are in carrying forward the commitment that I and President Musharraf have underlined in our joint statement."

Suggesting that it was too early to make any judgment about the joint mechanism, the Prime Minister observed: "The mechanism is yet to take off, we have to test it, and we will test it."

Nuclear deal

On the India-United States civilian nuclear deal [currently stalled in the U.S. Congress] Dr. Singh said there was always a built-in "uncertainty" insofar as "we have no control over the legislative process in the United States."

The Prime Minister reiterated that India wanted a deal within the parameters set out in the July 2005 and March 2006 statements, and expressed disappointment that "there is nothing that I can do to get over that uncertainty [of the vagaries of American law-making process]. We have to watch what happens in November."

But Dr. Singh also stressed that the Indian foreign policy remained true to its traditional concerns. He detailed the "leading role" played by India in the WTO and in the Group of 20. The objective was to protect India's interests in "matters relating to food security, problems of subsistence farmers."

Dr. Singh said India played an active role in the recent NAM summit. "We live in an increasingly inter-dependent world, there we need to develop relationships with all countries."

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