Notwithstanding the voices of dissent within the ruling party, Indian Congress President Sonia Gandhi has endorsed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's initiative on Pakistan and conveyed this to senior leaders and ministers, Press Trust of India reported on Saturday quoting party sources. The joint statement of Singh with his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani in Egypt last week was discussed at the Congress' core committee meeting here Friday night.
Gandhi told party leaders that the Congress should stand united on Singh's initiative and that she endorsed it. Prime Minister assured that the government would have all the answers on India-Pakistan statement. PTI said several senior ministers, including former external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee, are said to be upset over joint statement seeking to delink terrorism from the composite dialogue between two countries.
"Some ministers are particularly unhappy over the inclusion of Balochistan in the joint statement," said a source. But party leaders have refused to go on record in view of the sensitivity of the issue. The meeting held at Prime Minister's residence was attended by Sonia Gandhi, Defence Minister AK Antony, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Home Minister P. Chidambaram and Gandhi's political secretary Ahmed Patel, among others.
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