On the eve of Pakistan Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf’s visit, India on Friday said there could not be normalisation of ties with Islamabad unless the terror machine still active there was brought under control.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said India had made sincere efforts to normalise its relations with Pakistan and had achieved some progress.
“People-to-people contacts have gone up, trade relations have shown improvement,” Dr Singh said in the Rajya Sabha replying to a debate on Motion of Thanks to the President’s address.
“But there cannot be normalisation of relations between our two countries unless and until the terror machine which is still active in Pakistan is brought under control,” he said.
The PM said this had been his government’s policy for the past nine years and would continue in the coming times. His remarks come ahead of his Pakistani counterpart’s visit to India on Saturday.
Ashraf, during a daylong visit, is scheduled to offer prayers at the famous shrine of Sufi saint Moinuddin Chisti in Ajmer. External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid will host a lunch in his honour at Jaipur, but no “substantive talks” are expected to take place. Ashraf’s visit comes at a time when there is a chill in bilateral ties over the ceasefire violations along the Line of Control in Kashmir. An Indian soldier was allegedly beheaded by Pakistani troops while the mutilated body of another was found in January.
No normal ties with Pakistan until it ends terror: Singh
