NEW DELHI, Sept 18: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Monday that he was quite pleased with his Havana talks with President Gen Pervez Musharraf and described their previous meeting in New York as very tense.
On the flight back from Havana Dr Singh told accompanying journalists that the modalities of the joint mechanism to fight terror announced on Saturday were still being worked out and it was the best option in the circumstances.
Asked by NDTV to compare his meeting with Gen Musharraf to his talks with him last year in New York, Dr Singh said: “Our last meeting was very tense.”
He said that tension had resulted from certain remarks Gen Musharraf made in his UN address in Sept last year. “It was in the background of what Pakistan had said at the UN General Assembly, when they talked about self-determination. Naturally we were very angry, and the meeting did not produce any solid results. This time my meeting with him was very frank, very crucial, there was no tension, and I was very pleased with the outcome,” Dr Singh said.
The news channel quoted senior officials as saying that the joint anti-terror mechanism with Pakistan was entirely India’s idea and it would make Pakistan more accountable. The mechanism will not follow the model of other Joint Working Groups that exist.
