Relevant answers on India-Pakistan joint statement July 29: PM

Under fire over the India-Pakistan joint statement, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday ruled out any conflict between the Congress party and the government and assured that he would give "relevant answers" to the doubts raised over it in parliament July 29.

"I have made a statement in parliament and parliament is again going to discuss the issue. I will clarify," Manmohan Singh told reporters here when asked about the opposition's attack on the India-Pakistan joint statement that delinked terrorism from the composite dialogue.

The statement, issued after talks between Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousaf Raza Gilani at Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh resort on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Meet (NAM) summit July 16, included for the first time a mention of Balochistan. It has been decried by some as a concession and capitulation to Pakistan on the issue of cross-border terrorism.

Manmohan Singh refused to elaborate further Saturday, saying "pending a debate in parliament, it is inappropriate to answer any specific questions on the issue". All he would say was: "We have all the relevant answers."

The prime minister also dismissed the reported difference of opinion between the government and Congress party on the issue as a "media creation".

He was speaking to journalists at Rashtrapati Bhavan after the presentation of the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development to The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. President Pratibha Patil presented the award to Microsoft founder and IT tycoon Bill Gates.

Last updated on Jul 25^th, 2009 at 16:35 pm IST--IANS