Govt under West 'pressure' to resume talks with Pak

PM unperturbed by Opposition charges. 

Not only is the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government under pressure from the Opposition bench over Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s joint statement with Pakistan, government managers today privately conceded that it was facing pressure from Western countries for resumption of the dialogue process with its neighbour. 

Although US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has publicly maintained that the US is not insisting on resumption of India-Pakistan talks, UPA managers told Business Standard that many Western countries, including the US, were interested that India and Pakistan start their dialogue. 

This section of the UPA also admits that India’s diplomatic efforts have not succeeded in establishing Pakistan in these Western countries, as the epicentre of terrorism. Rather, Pakistan has managed to garner sympathy from the West, especially from the US, as a “victim of terror”. 

Even during the recent visit of Clinton, the US has conveyed to India that it considers Pakistan a victim of terror. 

But to douse the ‘domestic’ fire over his joint statement with Pakistan at Sharm-el-Sheikh in Egypt where Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani registered its concerns about its Baluchistan province, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will get at least one more chance in Parliament soon. 

There will be a debate on July 29 over the UPA’s foreign policy in Lok Sabha, government managers say. The UPA leadership is preparing to counter the Opposition charges over the Indo-Pak joint statement and also the government’s recent agreements with the US. 

Sources close to Singh, however, claimed today that the PM was not perturbed at the Opposition attack and the fact that even a section of the Congress party was uneasy about the situation. 

PM has told his close aides that he feels his clarification in the Rajya Sabha last week is enough to quash the apprehensions. 

The Opposition has been attacking the government for yielding to Pakistan at the Indo-Pak meet on the sidelines of the recent NAM summit, accusing it of betrayal. 

Significantly, the Congress has not come out in open support of the statement so far. Rather than taking an aggressive stance, Congress spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi said on Tuesday that the PM’s statement did not need any clarification.