News
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Singh wants to resolve all issues with Pakistan: PM
* Gilani says Indian PM is a ‘sensible and saner’ person
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani on Tuesday said Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh was a ‘sensible and saner’ person who really wanted Pakistan and India to resolve important issues between them.
Speaking of the Indian prime minister’s intentions to have good relations with Pakistan highly, Gilani said Singh expressed his desire to do ‘something really positive’ for both the countries several times during their meeting.
Gilani was speaking in response to a question posed by a senior civil servant of the 94th National Management Course who quoted private sources that Singh was personally spearheading the campaign to develop good relations with Pakistan. He said Singh, 78, who hailed from Punjab, was highly desirous of resolving the important issues, including Kashmir, Siachen and Sir Creek.
He said the Indian prime minister also expressed his views so many times to fight the common enemies of poverty, hunger and unemployment.
Gilani said he had met Dr Singh four times officially - in Colombo in 2008, in Sharm El Sheikh in 2009, in Bhutan in 2010 and in India in 2011, while met unofficially on several occasions.
Earlier, addressing the civil servants, Gilani called upon them to distinguish their work from politics and urged them to follow the priorities as set by elected representatives of the people. The prime minister said the role of senior civil servants was pivotal for the success of transitional phase of polity and administration as implementers of government policies, and as contributors to policy making.
Gilani said that challenge of public policy and public management required capable, diligent, and motivated, individuals at every level of public service.
He said as the country faced economic and administrative challenges, there was a need for committed public servants and efficient public sector managers.
“The unanimous passage of 18th and 19th amendments has provided the basis for re-defining the role of government at all levels,” he said, adding, “The 7th NFC Award has also made available more resources to the provinces and enabled them to provide essential services to the people, efficiently and promptly.”
Gilani stressed the civil servants to achieve and deliver high quality services for the people and also ensure efficient use of resources available to administer the departments.
He said as a resource-constrained country, it was more imperative to obtain maximum value from it.
“We want to achieve a better future for our people, and focus on what is required, and deliver better services within our constrained resources,” he concluded. app
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk