Manmohan absolves present Pakistan government of terror involvement

Making a clear distinction between the present Pakistani government and the previous establishment, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said India does not accuse the current regime of its "active involvement" in inciting terror.

Official element were "patronizing terror" but the present democratic establishment-led by Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani-were not of the same mindset, Manmohan Singh told journalists in Sharm-el-Sheikh after his meeting with Gilani Thursday.

Answering a question on the joint statement between the two countries

suggesting that terrorists are non-state actors and that the Pakistan state was not backing them, he said: "There is history to it. But it is certainly true that I am not accusing the present Pakistani government of active involvement..."

He said that it was a "strong conviction of ours that there were official elements patronizing terror but I did not accuse the present democratic establishment of Pakistan of being of the same mindset".

Manmohan Singh has come under attack for his joint statement that delinks the issue of terrorism from the composite dialogue process issued after the talks. The statement, which tasks the two foreign secretaries to meet "as often as necessary" before the foreign ministers meet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, is being seen as a climbdown from India's stated position that credible action against the Mumbai perpetrators and dismantling of the terror infrastructure were necessary for bilateral talks to resume.

Last updated on Jul 17^th, 2009 at 15:43 pm IST--IANS