Sonia backs PM on Indo-Pak joint statement

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi today strongly backed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the issue of the Indo-Pak joint statement and told partymen that there should be no confusion or misunderstanding on it among them.  

She also said that India's foreign policy vis-a-vis Pakistan has not changed.  

"Till Pakistan shows concrete steps on anti-terror front there is no point of dialogue," she told a Congress Parliamentary Party meeting here, a day after the Prime Minister addressed Parliament on the issue of the joint statement with Pakistan in Egypt.  

Resumption of dialogue with Pakistan depends upon whether it fulfills its promises on taking action against perpetrators of Mumbai attacks and does not allow its soil to be used for terror activities against India, Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari quoted Gandhi as saying in the meeting.

Asked if the party fully endorsed the Prime Minister's statement in Parliament yesterday, another party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said Singh had spoken extensively on the issue.  

On whether the party would now back the statement and whether it would be wrong for the party not to defend him, Singhvi said, "It is a loaded question" and walked away.  

He said Gandhi also touched upon issues like the Bill on Food Security and Education in the meeting and exhorted the MPs to be in touch with their constituents.

Those who attended the CPP meeting included the Prime Minister, Leader of the Lok Sabha Pranab Mukherjee, Cabinet ministers and over 200 MPs.  

At the meeting, Gandhi stressed on the need for fulfilling the commitments made by the party to the people during the elections.  She also asked the ministers to give attention to the problems of party workers and the aspirations of the people in their constituencies.