Islamabad: Pakistan has been put on notice by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He said the country's response to the evidence India gives regarding its involvement in the Mumbai blasts would be a test of its sincerity in controlling terrorism.
"Pakistan will have to walk the talk," Singh told journalists on board Air India One, his special flight from Johannesburg to New Delhi.
He was responding to questions about Mumbai Police claim of a Pakistani hand in the serial blasts and Pakistan's reaction that it will not hand over any suspects to India.
"Whatever has been discovered (by Mumbai police), we shall share that information with Pakistan and test them on how sincere they are in carrying forward the commitment I and President Musharraf have underlined in our joint statement (in Havana)," Singh asserted.
There was condemnation of the Mumbai blasts in the joint statement and also an explicit mention that the two countries will work to control the menace of terrorism, he recalled.
Pointing out that Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and he had just set up the joint mechanism to deal with terrorism, the Prime Minister said it was through this mechanism that Pakistan's response would be sought.
Although the joint mechanism was yet to take off, Singh asked "how else can we ask Pakistan for information (about Mumbai blasts) except through a mechanism like this?"
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"We will test the waters". On Indo-Pak peace process, Singh said it could not move forward unless and until both countries sincerely work to gain mastery over this menace after (of terrorism).
Uncertainty over Indo-US nuclear deal
Acknowledging that "uncertainty" existed over the Indo-US nuclear deal, Singh said that India would have to watch what happens in the US Congress next month.
Answering a question over the delay in the vote on the deal in the US Congress, Singh said he had always maintained that India wanted a deal within the July 2005 and March 2006 statements signed by him and President George W Bush.
"But one has to reckon with the fact that we have no control over the legislative process in the US, (and) that uncertainty will always exist. There is nothing that I can do to get over the uncertainty," he told reporters on board his special aircraft while returning from Johannesburg to New
Delhi.
SEZs have come to stay
Special Economic Zones (SEZs) have "come to stay", Prime Minister asserted. "But," he added,"it is also true that they have to operate in a manner in which, I think, concerns that have been expressed can be dealt with."
The Prime Minister said he saw no wrong in the conflicting stands of the ministries of finance and commerce on SEZs.
"We are a democracy. When issues are brought forward, the fact that there is a discussion about these issues, I do not not think it is a weakness of our system," he said.
On economic reforms, Singh acknowledged that there were problems but emphasised that "we need to push forward the reforms of the banking system and reforms of the insurance system."
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India, he said, needed $150 billion to 200 billion in the next seven to eight years for infrastructural development. Therefore, it needed liberalisation of the banking and insurance sectors.
"Now unfortunately, these reforms are blocked because we do not have a consenseus in our coalition but we keep trying," he said.
Answering questions on India's role in WTO, the Prime Minister said it was one of constructive cooperation to ensure that "our interests are well protected, particularly in matters relating to food security, problems of subsistence of farmers."
On the state of the economy, the PM said the first quarter GDP figures for the last three years had been best possible compared with what happened in the previous quarters.
"The economy is in good shape, it will remain in good shape. We have lot of work to do," he said.
Cabinet vacancies to be filled shortly
"I will do so shortly," was Prime Minister's response to a question on the filling of vacancies in his Cabinet. "There is External Affairs Minister's vacancy. There is Labour Minister's vacancy. I have to (fill them) and I will do so shortly," he said.
Consensus on creamy layer eludes UPA
The Prime Minister admitted that a consensus on how to handle the creamy layer concept in reservations continues to elude the ruling UPA coalition.
Some elements of the coalition -- Left parties and the CPI-M in particular -- had stated that the creamy layer should be excluded, he said while talking to reporters on board his special aircraft while returning from Johannesburg to New Delhi.
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But, Singh pointed out, other coalition partners like the DMK, PMK and RJD did not buy this argument. "As of now, we do not have a consensus," he said, before adding, "I think there is a consensus but I won't like to talk about it in public."
He concluded by stating, "We have discussed this but the truth is, as of now, there is no broad consensus in this issue."
A bill providing for a 27 per cent quota for OBCs in government-aided elite educational institutions has been introduced in Parliament and referred to a select committee.
Tharoor's performance very creditable
Seeing no reason to be disheartened by Shashi Tharoor's failed bid to become UN Secretary General, the Prime Minister said that his performance had been "very, very creditable".
"I always said it is a herculean task. We are up against an international order. This is the first time we have challenged it," Singh said.
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He said that "the future will have to reckon with the fact that India is ready to assume its rightful role in the management of the international system".
Tharoor, the UN Under-Secretary General for Communications and Public Information, on Tuesday withdrew from the race for the post of Secretary General after South Korea's Ban Ki-Moon emerged the winner of the fourth straw poll.
PM hopes to read Mush's book over weekend
The Prime Minister hopes to read Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's book In the Line of Fire over the weekend. "I have not read the book. I have been too busy. I hope I will get some time over the weekend," he said.
The book, which hit the stands recently, has set off a controversy over a number of claims made by the Pakistani leader, particularly with respect to the failed Agra Summit of 2001 and the Kargil conflict.
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