Sonia throws weight behind Manmohan

New Delhi (Online/PPI) - Notwithstanding the voices of dissent within the party, Congress President Sonia Gandhi has endorsed Prime Minister Manmohan Singhs initiative on Pakistan and has conveyed this to senior leaders and ministers, party sources said here Saturday.
The joint statement of the Prime Minister with his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani in Egypt last week was discussed at the Congress core committee meeting here Friday night. IANS quoting sources said, Gandhi told the party leaders that the Congress should stand united on Manmohan Singhs initiative and that she endorsed it. The prime minister, meanwhile, assured that the government would have all the answers on the India-Pakistan statement.
Several senior ministers, including former external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee, are said to be upset over the joint statement seeking to de-link terrorism from the composite dialogue between the 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 was held at the prime ministers residence and was attended by Sonia Gandhi, Defence Minister A K Antony, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Home Minister P Chidambaram and Gandhis political secretary Ahmed Patel.
Meanwhile, under fire over the Pak-India joint statement, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday ruled out any conflict between the Congress party and the government and assured that he would give 'relevant answers to the doubts raised over it in Parliament on July 29.
I have made a statement in parliament and parliament is again going to discuss the issue. I will clarify, Manmohan told reporters here when asked about the oppositions attack on the joint statement that delinked terrorism from the composite dialogue.
The statement, issued after talks between Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani at Egypts Sharm el-Sheikh resort on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Meet (NAM) summit July 16, included for the first time a mention of Balochistan. It has been decried by some as a concession and capitulation to Pakistan on the issue of cross-border terrorism.
He refused to elaborate further Saturday, saying 'pending a debate in parliament, it is inappropriate to answer any specific questions on the issue. All he would say was: We have all the relevant answers.
Singh also called the Balochistan controversy a media creation and said the government was confident. He said the government would have all the relevant answers. He also dismissed the reported difference of opinion between the government and Congress party on the issue as a 'media creation.
Monitoring Desk adds: Aiming to stem the controversy over the inclusion of Balochistan in the India-Pakistan joint statement, Indian Home Minister P Chidambaram has asserted that New Delhi has nothing to do with Pakistans internal affairs.
We have nothing to do with Pakistans internal problems, why should we get involved? Chidamabaram told CNN-IBN in an interview.
He was replying to a question on the contentious move by India to allow a mention of threats to Balochistan in the joint statement which was issued after talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousaf Raza Gilani at Sharm-el-Sheikh in Egypt July 16.