Another Mumbai raid will cause setback, Singh says

On Board Air India One: With a combative opposition accusing him of going soft on 26/11 terror, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday said he was optimistic about the resumed peace process with Pakistan, but stressed that he has made it clear that if another "barbarous" Mumbai attack were to happen, it will be a "setback".

"I did discuss [with Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani] the Mumbai terror attack. Those who perpetrated the barbarous attack must be brought to justice," Singh told reporters on board his special aircraft while returning from the Saarc summit in the Maldives.

Public opinion

"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 for the barbarous attack, it won't be possible to move forward with the peace process," Singh said.

"We both recognise that if there is another attack like Mumbai, it will be a setback to the normalisation of relations. And that was understood by Prime Minister Gilani," the prime minister said.

His 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 has gone soft on terror emanating from Pakistan barely days before the third anniversary of 26/11 attack.

Striking an upbeat note, the two leaders vowed to write a new chapter in relations between India and Pakistan and hoped that the next round of the dialogue will be more constructive and result-oriented.

Pointing out that the relations between India and Pakistan are "subject to accidents", Singh took positive note of the decision of Pakistan to grant Most Favoured Nation status to India and recalled encouraging developments in areas like trade and the willingness of Pakistan to discuss all issues, including that of terror.

Way forward

"I told him [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.

In these areas (trade and terror), it is possible to find a way forward, he said.

"Trade and economic relationship is one area where progress is possible.

"The thinking people in Pakistan realise that trade is a win-win situation," he said. Singh also underlined that the powerful Pakistani Army was fully on board in carrying forward the resumed peace process. "I did discuss … whether the Pakistan Army is fully on board ... The sense I got was that …, Pakistan's armed forces are fully on board."