Kabul, May 12
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today demanded a thorough investigation into the presence of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan for several years, but ruled out a US-type operation by India to eliminate Pak-based terrorists wanted by it.

“One needs to go for a thorough investigation into the presence of Osama bin Laden for such a long time on the soil of Abbottabad,” he said at a joint press conference here with Afghan President Hamid Karzai after their talks.

The killing of bin Laden was a “unique moment” in the history of the region, said the Prime Minister, who arrived here earlier on a two-day visit amidst highest levels of security.

Asked if India would adopt the type of operation that the US carried out to eliminate the Al-Qaida chief in order to get Pak-based terrorists wanted by it, the PM began by saying “these are sensitive issues and we don’t discuss strategies on terror at press conferences”.

The Prime Minister concluded his response by stating, “I would like to say India is not like the United States,” in a clear indication that he did not favour such an operation.

Referring to the killing of bin Laden, the PM said it has created a new situation and all countries of the region - India, Pakistan and Afghanistan - would recognise this as a “unique moment” in the history of this region and work unitedly to end the scourge of terrorism. To the question on US-type operation, he expressed hope that the world community would use its increasing amount of influence to persuade all countries in the region that the future does not belong to having continued recourse to the scourge of terrorism.

In his opening remarks, the PM announced a fresh commitment of $500 million to Afghanistan in the next few years for its development. “This will consist of specific projects and schemes and other initiatives that will be developed in consultation with the Government of Afghanistan.

The reiterated India’s “firm and unwavering” commitment to assisting Afghanistan in areas which are of priority and concern to them. “Our development assistance commitment to Afghanistan currently stands at approximately $1.5 billion spread over several sectors, but there are still gaps. We now have a better idea of where we can and should do more.”

The PM said the joint declaration between the two countries envisages regular political consultations, establishment of a strategic economic partnership, education and human resource capacity building, people to people exchanges, regional economic cooperation and cooperation in the area of security and law enforcement. — PTI