New Delhi: Maintaining that the people of
India were behind the government's approach to "engage"
Pakistan, Union Minister Salman Khursheed on Saturday said dialogue
was necessary to take things forward with Islamabad.
Asked if he believed the people of India favoured
reconciliation with the neighbouring country, Khursheed said:
"I am convinced people are behind the government's decision.”
"India is not a jingoistic country, though temporarily we
might get excited. War is not the solution and there cannot be
a single approach to the problem always," he said on the
sidelines of a seminar here.
The Union Minister for Corporate and Minority Affairs
said while in the immediate aftermath of the Mumbai attacks it
was not viable to have a dialogue, but "things have moved
forward" since.
"Things have moved forward, though not as much as we
wanted. There has been admission on Pakistan's part that the
attackers were from that country. We hope for more progress
and need to engage Islamabad for that," he told reporters.
The opposition had attacked the government on the
Indo-Pak joint statement of Sharm-el-Sheikh, saying that New
Delhi has conceded too much.
Asked if he had taken note of allegations made by actor
Emraan Hashmi that he was denied a house in a residential
society in Mumbai on communal grounds, he said: "I have taken
note of it as a human being, but as a minister the issue does
not fall in my ambit.”
Bureau Report
First Published: Saturday, August 01, 2009, 14:30