M A I N   N E W S

PM wants to give Sharif a chance, says Khurshid

New York, September 30
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who met Nawaz Sharif here despite strong criticism from opposition back home, wants to “trust” the new Pakistan Prime Minister and give him a chance to “walk the talk” on stopping ceasefire violations and terror activities against India.

Stating this, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid underlined that while “seeking to trust” Sharif, India will “verify” the actions on the ground before taking any step further on resuming the stalled dialogue process.

Khurshid said, “Our Prime Minister wants to give him (Sharif) a chance, wants to trust him. But as he (Singh) has said we have to verify”, said Khurshid while defending Manmohan Singh’s meeting with Sharif despite opposition BJP contending that it was not the right time as Pakistan was engaging in ceasefire violations.

Noting that Sharif has taken over as Prime Minister of Pakistan recently, he said there is a “reasonable element of hope that this discussion will not go waste and it will lead to some improvement and something concrete in the future.”

At the hour-long meeting with Sharif yesterday on the sidelines of UNGA, Manmohan Singh made it clear that ending ceasefire violations on the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir is a pre-condition for resumption of bilateral dialogue. Khurshid, who was part of the Indian delegation, said the Prime Minister had “free, frank and friendly discussion” with Sharif and flagged every issue of concern, including Mumbai attack and LoC firing during the meeting.

Rejecting BJP’s opposition to the meeting, Khurshid said, “We owe it to our nation. Trust but verify. You can turn it (the statement) around. We can verify and then trust. Now, I think, what our Prime Minister has done is that he has kept verify and trust in parallel.” — PTI

Khurshid optimistic

• The minister says there is a reasonable element of hope that this discussion will not go waste
• It will lead to some improvement and something concrete in the future
• The Prime Minister had free, frank and friendly discussion with Sharif
• He flagged every issue of concern, including Mumbai attack, Jamaat-ud-Dawa and its chief Hafiz Saeed, and LoC firing during the meeting