Srinagar, June 7
Asserting that the government wanted to take forward the dialogue process initiated through Round Table conferences, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said the government was ready to hold talks with all those who were against violence in Jammu and Kashmir. He also urged Pakistan to help in creating an environment in which people on both sides of the Line of Control (LoC) live in peace and harmony and work together.
The Prime Minister was addressing the fifth convocation of the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST), Kashmir, at the Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) here this afternoon. Governor and Chancellor NN Vohra and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah were present on the occasion.
The convocation held at the highly-guarded complex was also attended by Union ministers Farooq Abdullah and Ghulam Nabi Azad, besides state ministers, legislators and academicians.
“Our issues with Pakistan are well known. Good neighbourly relations between India and Pakistan are in the interest of both countries. At the same time, they are necessary for peace and harmony, stability and development of our region,” the Prime Minister said. He, however, added that these relations had been under the shadow of the Mumbai terror attacks of November 26, 2008.
Referring to his meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani in Thimpu last month, Manmohan Singh held that both countries accepted that there was a trust deficit. “We also agreed that this distance between the two countries must be reduced,” he stated.
The Prime Minister said he had been assured by the Pakistan counterpart that Pakistan would not allow its soil to be used for terrorist activities against India. “Meaningful talks between the two countries, which can lead to the resolution of old
issues, are possible only when Pakistan does not let its territory to be used for acts of terror against India,” he added.
He said the destiny of people in the two neighbouring countries was linked to each other and stressed the need to adopt ‘effective ways of cooperation for their benefit’. “A strong, stable and prosperous Pakistan is in the interest of our whole region,” Manmohan Singh asserted.
On promoting the movement of people and trade on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad and Poonch-Rawalkot roads, the Prime Minister said the government wanted to take similar steps for the Kargil-Skardu route. After the inauguration of the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service, the government was consistently trying to increase trade and commerce between different parts of Jammu and Kashmir, he added. “We want to look at all possible measures to strengthen the links between people on both sides of the LoC.
However, a handful of people did not want any political process for empowering people to succeed, Manmohan Singh pointed out. “This is the reason that attempts to disturb the lives of people in the valley still continue from across the LoC,” he said. “Whenever such incidents happen, they spread terror and cause disruption in the life of people. Our security agencies are forced to act in the wake of such incidents. During the process sometimes innocent civilians have to suffer, but whenever such incidents happen it becomes necessary to act against those responsible for them,” he said.
The Prime Minister also referred to the complaints of human rights violations saying the government’s policy was to protect the human rights of people even while dealing with terrorism. “The security forces in Jammu and Kashmir have been strictly instructed to respect the rights of the civilians. We will act to remove any deficiency in the implementation of these instructions.”
