PM ticks off Pak’s Qureshi
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in fairly strong remarks at a joint press conference with British Prime Minister David Cameron here on Thursday, ticked off Pakistan’s foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, saying that the recent fiasco at the latter’s Islamabad press conference (with external affairs minister S.M. Krishna) “could have been avoided”.
Dr Singh, however, expressed the hope that Mr Qureshi would honour the invitation extended to him to visit India soon and that the two countries would be able to “restore” the dialogue process “sooner or later”, and give it a “proper sense of purpose”.
Formally reacting for the first time since the July 5 foreign minister-level talks in Islamabad, which ended in sharp differences, Dr Singh said: “I believe there was agreement on a large number of issues having a bearing on our relations. But the way the press conference was (handled) at the end of the visit by the foreign minister of Pakistan could, I think, have been avoided.”
The way things had unfolded at the end of the talks, Dr Singh said, had detracted from the “large elements of agreement” reached between the two foreign ministers. He said this while replying to a question at the joint press conference with Mr Cameron.
When asked if he was disappointed with the failure of the talks between the Indian and Pakistani foreign ministers, Dr Singh said: “I think we are too close to events to pass a firm judgment on the outcome.”
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