Keen to visit Pakistan but need ‘proper atmosphere’: Manmohan

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Friday that he was keen to visit Pakistan but the two countries need to create a “proper atmosphere” first.
Talking to reporters in his aircraft while flying back from Tehran, he said: “I am very keen to visit Pakistan and I am grateful for the invitation. But I also mentioned to President Asif Ali Zardari that we have to create a proper atmosphere.” Singh had met Zardari on Thursday on the sidelines of the NAM Summit in the Iranian capital. During the meeting, he asked Pakistan to act against terrorism directed against India, and punish the alleged attackers of the Mumbai attacks. He said an expeditious conclusion of the Mumbai attack trial will be a “major” confidence building measure in bilateral relations. “There must be a genuine feeling that Pakistan is doing all that it could do to deal with terrorism directed against India from Pakistani soil. And in this context the trial of those charged with the heinous crime of Mumbai massacre was a crucial test for the Pakistani society to bring to book the perpetrators.”
“There are issues like Sir Creek which are doable as was said by him (Zardari) when he came last (to Delhi in April). I said let’s push this process,” Singh said. “Meanwhile, foreign ministers will be meeting and they will explore the possibility of what can be achieved to facilitate a purposeful visit of mine to Pakistan,” he added. The Singh-Zardari meeting on Thursday night came a day after the Indian Supreme Court upheld Ajmal Kasab’s death sentence in the Mumbai terror attack case.