News
Monday, April 18, 2011
My ‘job done’ if ties with Pakistan normalise: Singh
NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would consider his job ‘well done’ if relations with Pakistan are normalised, local media quoted him as saying on Sunday. The nuclear-armed neighbours are working to revive diplomatic ties that were broken off after the Mumbai attacks in 2008, in which gunmen killed 166 people over three days. India blamed the attacks on Pakistani militants. “If I can succeed in normalising relations between India and Pakistan as they should prevail between two normal states, I will consider my job well done,” Singh told reporters on board his plane returning from Kazakhstan, according to the Press Trust of India. Last month Singh invited his Pakistani counterpart, Yousuf Raza Gilani, to watch the cricket World Cup semi-final between the two countries, in a move quickly dubbed ‘cricket diplomacy’. The international community has been pushing the two countries back to the negotiating table. Responding to Singh’s gesture, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson, Tehmina Janjua, termed it a good omen. “Negotiations are the only way to improve relations between the two countries. President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani are already working on improving ties between the two countries,” she concluded. agencies
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk