Speaking to reporters on his flight back from the SAARC summit in Maldives, Singh said that the two nations should resolve its issues through dialogue, however no progress could be made until Pakistan took sufficient steps against the perpetrators of the November 2008 attacks in Mumbai.
The Indian Premier said he will visit Pakistan only when the two countries can do something solid together. However, he acknowledged that the relations between him and Gilani had grown since their last meeting.
"Our approach to Pakistan is trust but verify. We are not putting blind faith in one individual (Gilani). I do hope it will genuinely lead to the normalisation of relations," he said.
Linking the peace process to the Mumbai attack, he said he will take public opinion in India concerning the attack into account before going ahead with dialogue.
If Manmohan Singh visits Pakistan, it will be the first prime ministerial visit from India since 2004 when Atal Bihari Vajpayee visited Pakistan for the SAARC summit.
COMMENTS (46)
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@rehmat: Cool that's a good point you mentioned "India has refused to do so and places orders with France and Russia" so you think i should change my perspective towards India what i had since the beginning? Seems like Both Indo-Pak has left United States alone...
But i am afraid India will repeat the history again, like whenever things get back to right track we see such mishaps like Samjhota Express & 26/11 and blames goes to Pakistan.
OMG i am stunned to read what most Indian's have posted, and here our media is driving us nuts, playing indian everything and telling us to start 'aman ki asha' hellooo save for a select segment of our society i dont think many are as radical in aproach towards india as you guys..what a shame...what is YOUR media feeding you???
@Me Tarzan: under shady suspicious almost fabricated conditions..makes you wonder?
@Raghubir Sing: have you ever seen pakistani media>??? our tv's play indian content as if it was homemade, buy your movies dramas etc, does india do the same..??? sheesh..take a breather, 'aman ki asha' ring a bell??
@hamza: "So finally respect for your “masters (US)” will lead you to the Pakistan". India has never taken aid from USA and so it does not allow US to dictate policy. US wante do sell its arms but when Europena guns were found to be better, India placed an order there despite US pressure. US is asking India to change the liability laws in case of nuclear power stations. India has refused to do so and places orders with France and Russia who are willing to accept Indian contractual terms. There are many such instances.Indian leaders are elected by the people of India not installed by US - that is why they are not sold out to US.
@Javed: You may be right in many aspects. We have a lot of issues that we should blame on our leadership today and in the past. But the world especially the US has totally forgotten that it was Pakistan that has suffered the most due to US policies in the region. Do u think this breed of extremism is our product? If yes than i feel sorry for your lack of information. As far as you asking for one incident, please go in the era of 1971 when your state sponsored terrorists infiltrated our country (east pakistan). I am totally against all the suppression our establishment did in east Pakistan the first place! Like I said before, we create problems for ourselves, and you take advantage of it! I just hope our leadership realizes that they are playing with fire when it comes to India! "Baghal may churri aur mun pay raam raam" has always been your policy when it comes to Pakistan! But i have been saying this before and I will repeat, that once we "do get our house in order", some Hitler like nationalist would be born here soon. The world didnt learn from ignoring the Germans after the first world war! They need a lesson revision in this regard!
@FAZ: The world doesnt care if we are friends with Pak or not because Pak has already managed to demonstrate its 2 faced-ness to the world. The reason why you guys are in this mess is because you can't get your house in order - and want to blame the rest of the world for it. This has worked during the cold war, but no longer my friend. As regards a UN SC permanent seat, we have no expectations of Pak supporting it, and if it does materialize it will be in spite of our relations with Pak and not because of it.
@Asif Butt: Which Indian PM has made immature remarks against Pakistan - pl quote. Even right-wing PMs like Atal Behari Vajpayee extended a hand of friendship to Pakistan while denying his core constituency (who are visibly anti-Pak), and received Kargil as his early Christmas present instead. Manmohan Singh is probably more mild mannered than most, but I believe that he represents the same strain of thought that all Indian governments exhibit when in power - seek to reduce friction with neighbors (actively if possible), grow trade, and improve the lot of your citizens - there are problems like corruption and lack of inclusive growth, but these are internal and must be dealt with within the confines of the democratic system. However, I don't recall ever seeing the level of negative sentiment in the establisment that seems to be de rigeur for most MNAs in Pak. What Pakistan (and here I mean the people, not just the military and govt) needs to do is to critically examine what it can actually do in the short-term to reduce the trust deficit - and the answer boils down to just cracking down on terrorist camps that are operating on your soil. Deny their existence and you will never be able to move fwd in the right mindset - hence the conditionality with all matters Indian.
PM IS just going to his village to meet friends;if pakistanis want some advice as to how economies work,he might spare a few hours out of his busy schedule to do that;though he has to start from very basics watching the condition o f this country;anything over simple things will just pass over the empty heads.
@Imran: The problem with you guys is that its easy to blame India for everything, and you guys do that with alacrity each time something untoward happens. If you can cite one incident where you can prove Indian involvement, I am sure the Indian media itself would have hounded the Indian establishment to respond. We on the other hand could have blamed the Samjhauta express incident on Pak and it would just have added to scores of other attacks that have been perpetrated by those sitting pretty on your soil - unfortunately we are more honest than that - which is why you got to know of the Samjhauta-hindu right wing angle in the first place. All of those accused (Sadhvi Pragya, Col. Purohit etc) are already behind bars and will be sentenced after giving them fair trial. Can you guarantee the same for the 26/11 core team?
@Rsingh: what do you mean by behind bars...if it is enough then ajmal kasab is also behind bars...dont hang him.this is what you want. my dear all these monsters should be hanged.
@Sao Lao:
Buddy, I think you are stuck in a make believe world of Pakistani Media propaganda. India is a civilized Country, and the culprits are already behind the bars. Not only that, India did it without any pressure from Pakistan, on it own.
@Raghubir Sing: You are clearly not putting on the Indian thinking cap! Show the world that you are friends with Pakistan and lobby for a permanent seat in the Security council. Till the time you get it, Pakistan will be badly depleted in terms of economy and fighting the Taliban Infestation (A breed cultivated by Pakistan itself, and now being taken care of the Indians, the Americans and somewhat by the puppets aka Karzais). Till then you will have secure bases and intelligence hubs installed in Afghanistan! Then you can do whatever crap you want to do against us. And oh yea! I forgot. Build more dams in this era when our so called leadership is in a honeymoon period with you!
Why should we pander for a visit to Pakistan by a Bharati Prime Minister? Let him decide, of his own will and a time of his own choosing. Our Prime Minister has extended an invitation and we should let the matter rest there. Let us be honourable and proud people And, let each one of us do that which should endear Pakistan to every Pakistani and the people of the world.
@Nothing but the Truth: Spot on
@Sao Lao: one ready made blah blah for every question and suggestion, lol, don't you have shame for using same ignorant comments without checking facts??
@Sao Lao: guys like these are trained with some ready made comments for everything, whether its good/, bad,/ truth,/ false, without considering situation, facts, sense. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Pakistan will benefit out of this visit.
Assalam-o-Allaikum Warahmatullah.Much the best step shall be taken by Indian and Pakistani leaders but first and foremost the most core and burning issue Kashmir shall have to be the top and most important priority to be resolved than any other issues because Kashmir issue has been hanged in balance since 1947 especially formally 1971 and Kashmir is issue is the only issue the biggest hindrance between the Pakistan and India for true,strong,reliable and trustworthy friendship on solid and permanent basis.
People to people interaction should be encouraged, PMs of both countries meet frequently at different places.
@ Sao Lao, A closed mouth gathers no feet.
Manmohan Singh is a very mature politician and seemingly a wise man as well. I admire all his statements regarding Pakistan and I personally believe that all future Indian PMs should learn from him as to how to represent his country against Pakistan.
If India keeps getting stable minds like him in power , then it wont matter whether Pakistani politics or leaders grow up in time to direct towards peace.
I am very optimistic for India playing a leading role in helping Pakistan understand the nature of our future relationship.
My regards to all Indians and their noble premier.
Thanks sir, for once you have spoken our minds. Verify alone not enough we should vigil.
I think Manmohan is wrong to engage Pakistan. It will end in anathor deceit, fraudulent act and more bitterness in relations. The best relations with Pakistan are when India keeps Pakistan at arms length.
I just hope, no setback from stratergic assets in comin days, which will again bring back the status as it was before 2008.
26/11????
The lone surviving culprit behind the attacks is in your jails.... and yeah..... train your BSF wee bit more so that future incidents don't take place. Even if another group of 10 teenagers tries to conquer India.
its not a big deal ......... sadar g aaa jaoooooooo.
“Our approach to Pakistan is trust but verify." Wise Approach.
US trusted Pakistan only to discover OBL.....
How come its a good gesture? It clearly says "Conditions Apply"!!!
@Sao Lao: 1. Samjhauta Express was a terror attack within India. No-one from India had come to Pakistan to carry out the attack. This is quite different from the Mumbai attack where Pakistanis came from Karachi to Mumbai.
The people in that attack have already been convicted. Going by the number of likes to your post, it looks like not just you but even rest of your compatriots are not well updated.There have been many blasts in pk since the last 60 yrs which were sponsored by indian intelligence. Are u guyz ready to arrest all those people?
So finally respect for your "masters (US)" will lead you to the Pakistan.
India is best
Our Govt is dying for friendship with India but they are attaching everything with Mumbai attacks like that is the only problem between us. What about Kashmir issue and Samjhota Express...First solve these matters then talk about Mumbai attacks. We don't want any friendship with India
31 Hindus have been given life sentence after being convicted in Gujarat Riots case . In India justice is guaranteed , even though it might be delayed. Those behind Samjhauta Express blast will face similar fate. Unfortunately can't say the same about trial of Hafiz Saeed in Pakistan.
@Sao Lao: for your information,they are already behind bars
Manmohan Singh’s unconditional visit to Pakistan will provide opportunity to Amn Ki Asha to prosper between the people of two neighbouring countries.
Gilani wants Singh to visit Pakistan, but Deep State will ensure that outfits like LeT, JuD or another proxy carries out an atrocious act of terrorism in India. The only way to ensure normal relations between the two countries is to eliminate all terrorist organisations.
Question here is why Indian leaders are bending backwards to accommodate with Pakistan, A country which engaged in perpetual confrontation with India since last 64 yrs. India should not do any business to develop good and friendly relations with Pakistan, Dealing with few good people in pakistan does not serve any purpose for long term stability of relation. First of all Pakistan has to correct history textbooks that contain poisonous anti-Indian and anti-Hindu material. It has already created a mindset, which believes in confrontation, jingoism and extremism rather than tolerance and friendship. This mindset has to be changed. Secondly, they must also make attempts to purge anti-Indian sentiments from their media. Let them first sanitize, then and then Indian can think of next step,Otherwise PMOI respected Manmohan singh is dreaming. I am sure you are not going to print this comment ,But well I will try my best to send this message to pakistan.
@Sao Lao: In case you are living under a rock, here's a news flash for you-- They are already behind bars. But I wonder if the same can be said about your strategic assets and non-state actors.
And....the conditions are no K word as I am allergic to it otherwise first give up terrorists support.
@Sao Lao - The culprits behind Samjhauta are already behinds bar and what about the guys responsible of 26\11 and hundreds of other blasts that happened over the years in India.
Please don't come before putting the culprits of Samjhauta Express behind bars. You are not welcomed before that