Congress backs Indian PM on Indo-Pak joint statement

New Delhi, Jul 27 (PTI) After over a week of diffidence,
the Congress Monday came out openly backing Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh on the controversial Indo-Pak joint statement
in Egypt that has come under a lot of criticism.

"The Congress is confident that when the Prime Minister
speaks in Parliament on July 29, he will set at rest all the
questions, all apprehensions and speculation relating to the
Indo-Pak joint statement at Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt," All
India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary Janardan Dwivedi told PTI.

A senior Congress leader had indicated on Saturday that
it will back Singh on the issue clearing reported doubts over
the party's attitude towards the government on the matter.

His remarks were significant as they came a day after a
crucial meeting of the Congress Core Group attended among
others by Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi against
the backdrop of reported murmurs in the party on the joint
statement.

The party was seen as shy of openly backing the
government in the context of inclusion of Balochistan in the
joint statement which also delinked terrorism from the
Composite Dialogue Process.

The Congress leader's statement had also come close on
the heels of the Prime Minister dismissing as "media creation"
the reports of differences between party and the government
over the issue of the joint statement.

The Prime Minister is set to spell out the government's
stand in Parliament on July 29. PTI