Pakistan Army wants peace too, says Singh

With a combative opposition accusing him of going soft on the Mumbai attack, Indian Prime Minister said he was optimistic about the resumed with Islamabad and Pakistan Army was fully on board in carrying forward the process, the Times of India said in a report on Saturday.
But the Indian premier stressed that if another “barbarous” attack were to happen, it would be a “setback”. “I did discuss with Prime Minister (Yousaf Raza) Gilani whether the is fully on board to carry forward with the peace process,” he was quoted as saying. “The sense I got was that after a long time, Pakistan’s armed forces are fully on board,” he added.
He told reporters on board his special aircraft while returning from the in the Maldives: “I did discuss with [Prime Minister ] the Mumbai terror attack. Those who perpetrated the barbarous attack must be brought to justice.”
“I left Prime Minister Gilani in no doubt that if public opinion in India is not satisfied that justice is being done to those responsible to the barbarous attack, it won’t be possible to move forward with the peace process,” the Times of India quoted Singh as saying. “We both recognise that if there is another attack like Mumbai, it will be a setback to the normalization of relations. And that was understood by Prime Minister Gilani,” the Indian premier said.
VISIT TO PAKISTAN: He said his visit to Pakistan would take place only when Pakistan took solid steps against the Mumbai terror attack accused. Singh’s clarification came two days after he held wide-ranging talks with his Pakistani counterpart on the sidelines of the SAARC summit and amid the Bharatiya Janata Party’s accusation that he had gone soft on terror emanating from Pakistan barely days before the third anniversary of the Mumbai attacks.
Pointing out that the relations between India and Pakistan were “subject to accidents,” Singh took positive note of the decision of Pakistan to grant Most Favoured Nation status to India and stressed on encouraging development in areas such as trade and the willingness of Pakistan to discuss all issues, including that of terror.“I told [Prime Minister Gilani] that terror as an instrument of state policy has no takers in the world and it has given rise to Pakistani terrorism. Terror has to be dealt with firmly,” he said.
“Trade and economic relationship is one area where progress is possible,” said Singh. Reacting to criticism in India about him describing Gilani as “a man of peace”, Singh said: “I have met Prime Minister Gilani four or five times. He agreed with me that there is no way but to find a peaceful resolution of all outstanding issues.”
“In fact, he (Gilani) has gone ahead and expressed his reservations that terrorism is a common enemy, it has not helped advance Pakistan’s cause. I tend to believe that Pakistan has a democratic government. We would like to strengthen the hands of the democratic government,” he said.
However, Singh pointed out that his decision to resume the peace process with Pakistan was not an individual-centric one, said the report. “Our approach to Pakistan is ‘trust but verify’. We are not putting blind faith in one individual. I do hope it will genuinely lead to the normalisation of relations,” he was quoted as saying.“If our government gets solid evidence that terror is continuing (from Pakistan), it will be a negative factor. If trade relations move positively, it will be a positive factor,” Singh said.“I come back with the expectation that the second round of resumed dialogue, which will commence very soon, will have the advantage of more informed dialogue. I am optimistic,” he added.