Peace with Pakistan a priority: Manmohan Singh

Peace with Pakistan a priority: Manmohan Singh


NEW DELHI: India?s prime minister-designate Manmohan Singh pledged on Thursday to push forward dialogue with Pakistan and hold talks with all parties over Kashmir, saying friction should be "a thing of the past."

"We seek the most friendly relations with our neighbours, more so with Pakistan than with any other," Singh told his first news conference, days before bilateral talks on nuclear confidence-building measures as part of a peace roadmap agreed by outgoing Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.

"We must find the means and ways to resolve all outstanding problems that have been a source of friction and the unfortunate history of our relations with Pakistan. It is our sincere hope that that should become a thing of the past," he said, adding: "We should look to the future with hope. That is not impossible. Who could have imagined some 15 years ago that the Berlin Wall would melt? Then the world saw that what was impossible in international politics became a norm. It will be our effort, without sacrificing our national security imperative, to create an environment to move forward to improve our relations with Pakistan."

Singh said India would talk to all parties, including the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, to bring permanent peace to Kashmir. "As far as the (Kashmir) policy is concerned, our party is in favour of discussion with all interested groups," Singh said. "We will explore all possible opportunities to bring peace and prosperity to this vital state of the nation," he added.

Singh laid out his vision for his new left-leaning government by pledging to defend the poor and to make peace with religious minorities. "The priority... will be to do everything needed to wage the battle against poverty," he said, without giving details but promising reforms with a human face.

Singh softened the BJP?s privatisation programme, pledging not to sell state banks or energy giants. "The interest of workers must be protected. A large number of workers have been added to the pool of unemployment. It is not good. We believe India needs a strong private sector, India needs a strong public sector," Singh said, also promising an investor-friendly environment. He also pledged new investment in rural areas to make "the 21st century India?s century." He said reforms must not leave behind farmers, the rural poor and minority ethnic.

Singh, a Sikh and India?s first non-Hindu prime minister, vowed to be more proactive than the Vajpayee government in stopping inter-community bloodshed, assuring "an environment of peace" among the religious communities. "Communal harmony needs to be strengthened. If we are divided in the name of religion, the country is in danger. To strengthen development, we have to create an environment of peace," he added.

He denounced the "inordinate delays" in legal action after anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat. "We are the most tolerant civilisation and we cannot divide people on the basis of religion and race," Singh said, adding: "In the words of Mahatma (Mohandas K Gandhi), to build an India free from the fear of war, want and exploitation."

Singh, ? now head of a ruling coalition to be called the United Progressive Alliance-spent Thursday at the home of Gandhi, who remains the influential head of the Congress party, to work out cabinet appointments and a government programme that pleases the broad coalition.

The swearing-in of the new government, headed by Dr Manmohan Singh is expected to take place on Saturday, May 22. Singh said he told the president that he needed a day or two to finalise the list of ministers, who will be in his cabinet.