NEW DELHI, Sept 12: Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh said on Sunday that he continued to trust President Pervez Musharraf and believed that he could do “business” with him.

Talking to media-persons accompanying him on his visit to Paris en route to New York, he said: “I have not changed my views” (since his last meeting with President Musharraf in New York), according to a news report splashed by a leading Indian daily, The Hindu, on the front page.

Dr Singh said the agenda for discussion at the dinner meeting with President Musharraf would emanate from the April 18, 2005, joint statement signed in New Delhi.

He noted that the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service was a major breakthrough. “We will see what more can be done,” the Indian PM added.

Asked as to when the next round of dialogue with the All-Party Hurriyat Conference was likely to take place, he said the Hurriyat leaders had been told that they were welcome to come back with “precise” proposals and only then it would be possible to determine at what level the dialogue could proceed.

Another front-page report, carried by “The Tribune”, quoted Mr Singh as saying “he had not changed his mind” that President Musharraf “is the man you can trust and do business with”.

Emphasizing that he was looking forward to his dinner meeting with General Musharraf on the sidelines of the 60th UNGA meeting in New York later this week, Dr Manmohan Singh explained: “We are committed to reviewing the progress in every sphere of the bilateral agenda. We will see what further can be done.”

All items listed on the agenda of the India-Pakistan composite dialogue were contained in the joint statement issued during the visit of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to India in April this year, he said, acknowledging that some progress had been made, like the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service had become a reality.

Replying to a question, he noted: “We have agreed for the Hurriyat Conference to let us know the precise points that it wants to discuss. I will be meeting them again after which we will decide at what level the discussions will continue.”

About the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline, Dr Singh drew the attention to India’s tremendous energy needs as the country could not depend entirely on hydrocarbons. —APP