NEW DELHI, Nov 16:
Pakistan may be keen on a visit by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh but that is unlikely to happen, given India’s “sense of hurt” caused by Mumbai terror attacks, a highly placed government source said here today.
Noting that there was “enthusiasm” on part of Pakistan leadership to see Singh visiting that country, the source said, “We are receiving some interesting positive signals but at the same time there are expectations that remain unfulfilled.”
Asserting that “this is not a pre-conditional approach”, the source said, “there are things that have hurt us very gravely and that sense of hurt is yet not over”.
“We owe it to our people that we have not forgotten it,” he said, referring to the 2008 Mumbai carnage in which 166 persons were killed.
“Whether we are bitter, the answer is no. Whether we have forgotten, the answer is no. Therefore, a little balm is necessary even to give us the strength and courage to move forward and that is all we expect from Pakistan.
“There must be some delivery. We are ready for some delivery, so that we can move forward and all this has to be kept in mind when the Prime Minister decides what the path will be,” he said.
Reports emerging from Pakistan in the last one month have indicated that government there was keen on Singh’s visit before their general elections in March. According to these reports, Singh’s birthplace Gah was also being spruced up for a possible visit by him.
He also mentioned that there was a very “small window” given that Pakistan was fast moving towards their elections.
“The window is very small because they are moving very fast towards their elections next, I am not very sure that the visit of that nature is possible and probable during that window which is very short.”
He also made it very clear that “accountability for what happened in the past and assurance for what must not happen in future” should go hand in hand. (AGENCIES)
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