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| May 13, 2005 | Friday | Rabi-us-Sani 4, 1426 |
Indian PM says peace process irreversible
NEW DELHI, May 12: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday said he and President Pervez Musharraf were committed to making the peace process ‘truly irreversible’, facilitating resolution of all outstanding issues between the two countries. During special discussion in Lok Sabha regarding recent visits of President Musharraf and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to India, Mr Singh, however, added that ‘much will depend’ on the ground situation on infiltration after the snow-bound passes in Kashmir opened in summer.
“We have to remain alert because what New Delhi calls terrorist and extremist forces are still active,” he said. The prime minister said New Delhi sincerely desired to find mutually acceptable solutions to all issues between India and Pakistan.
Mr Singh said he had pointed out to President Musharraf that he would not be able to continue the composite dialogue process and the quest for abiding peace if repeated extremist acts against innocent men, women and children continued. He expressed the hope that the bus service between Amritsar and Nankana Sahib would be operationalized in near future.
Referring to the Baglihar issue, he said India had never violated the Indus Water Treaty and added that the government was preparing to provide all information and technical details that may be required by the World Bank neutral expert to make a comprehensive assessment of the controversial project. He noted that under the terms of the treaty, the World Bank was obliged to appoint a neutral expert even if one of the parties made a representation.—APP
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