Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday expressed hope that Pakistan would find a pragmatic, practical and effective means to overcome the difficulties it brought on itself by declaring a state of emergency on November 3.
By Naveen Kapoor
On Board Air India One, Nov 20 : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday expressed hope that Pakistan would find a "pragmatic, practical and effective means" to overcome the "difficulties" it brought on itself by declaring a state of emergency on November 3.
Refusing to comment on the present situation in Pakistan, Dr. Singh said "I would not like to comment on internal developments in Pakistan." "I have said on more than one occasion that destinies of our two countries are very closely interlinked. A strong, prosperous, stable, peaceful and democratic Pakistan is in our interest," Singh told reporters while en route to Singapore to attend the ASEAN summit. On November 3, President Pervez Musharraf proclaimed emergency in Pakistan and the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO).
India has taken the line to treat the declaration of emergency in Pakistan as an internal problem of that country, while being "watchful" and "on the alert".
"We regret the difficult times that Pakistan is passing through. We trust that conditions of normalcy will soon return permitting Pakistan's transition to stability and democracy to continue," the External Affairs Ministry said in a release, after imposition of emergency in Pakistan on November 3.
ANI