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| Ready for Left Alliance: PM | | Rahul best choice to lead India | |
New Delhi, May 02: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said the Congress party was ready to take the support of the Left to form the next government, but not at the cost of giving up the nuclear deal with the US.
It’s not good to harass people: PM on Quattrocchi case"I have enjoyed working with the Left. I have nothing personal against the Left parties... But it would not be at the cost of giving up the nuclear deal," he told a news channel in an interview.
"The nuclear deal was achieved after a lot of labour, we ended India's isolation... I don't think any serious minded patriotic party would oppose the nuclear deal," he said.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reiterated that Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi has all the qualities to be a good prime minister and said he would prefer "at some stage" in his possible second term to hand over power to someone younger than himself.
Speaking to the news channel, the Prime Minister also said that in 2004, Congress president Sonia Gandhi had informed him just 48 hours before he was sworn in Prime Minister that he was the man selected.
Asked by the channel if he is re-elected PM, "would he like to finish the entire term, or would he maybe midterm think about handing it over to someone else - obviously everyone would think of Rahul Gandhi?"
"I have said Rahul Gandhi has all the qualities a good PM should have. I certainly at some stage would like the seat of power should be in the hands of younger people than I am," he said.
Asked if he had any regrets about things he couldn't do in his first term, which he would like to do in his second term?
"I'd like to work on agriculture, education and rural health," he replied.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he was close to clinching "an agreement" on all bilateral issues with then Pakistan military president Pervez Musharraf two years ago but the judiciary in that country halted that process.
"I and General (retd) Musharraf had reached an agreement in non-territorial solution to all problems but then General Musharraf got into difficulties with the Chief Justice (Iftikhar Chowdhary)... He said we cannot operate on all fronts and therefore the whole process came to a halt...," Manmohan Singh told the TV channel in the interview.
He was referring to Pakistan lawyers' country-wide protests in 2007, which ultimately led to the president Musharraf's downfall. Musharraf stepped down from the post in 2008 after democratically elected government was sworn in.
The peace process between New Delhi and Islamabad came to a grounding halt last year after the Mumbai terror attack, which India alleges was sponsored and executed by elements in Pakistan.
However, Manmohan Singh said India was looking forward to Pakistan root out terror from its soil.
"I still believe we have no ill will towards Pakistan. We want Pakistan to combat Taliban. It will have our good will. Our only concern is Pakistan should cooperate in not allowing the territory of Pakistan to be used for acts of terror in our country (India)," Manmohan Singh said.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh warned about the deterioration in peace and stability in India's neighbourhood and said the security threat to the country had increased. "In the entire area in our periphery, peace and stability has deteriorated. For this, the threats to our security have increased," he said at a poll rally here.
Calling for coordination among the states and also with countries to combat the menace of terrorism, the prime minister said: "We are taking all steps to face up to the challenge of terrorism."
He said the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government has revamped the security system and the intelligence agencies. "This is continuing. We will face the problem of terrorism through our efforts and not through big claims."
"There is need for coordinated efforts among the states and also with other nations. On various issues concerning terror, diplomatic help has to be taken. We will meet the challenge as we did after the Mumbai attacks," Manmohan said.
The prime minister said only a strong and stable central government could tackle the problem and claimed only the Congress could give such a regime.
"Just as we understand the economic issues well, similarly we have the ability to fight terrorism," Singh said.
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