New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday said insisted that dialogue with Pakistan must continue even though elements in Pakistani establishment sanctioned attacks on Indians in Afghanistan.
The Prime Minister made the statement while addressing heads of Indian mission at a conference in New Delhi. He said despite difficulties and Pakistan's misbehaviour, India must learn to engage its neighbour.
"Pakistan has tried to block us in Afghanistan and elements in Pakistani establishment underwrote attacks on Indians in Afghanistan including the Kabul Embassy bombing. Despite all problems dialogue must continue," he said.
He added that Indian officials must reach out to Pakistani institutions, intelligentsia, non-elite classes as sooner or later Pakistan would realise that good relations with India were in its best interests.
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram and External Affairs Minister SM Krishna, who inaugurated the conference, also addressed the diplomats. Chidambaram listed all the Pakistani terror groups active and gave a comprehensive account of steps being taken to tackle them.
Krishna, on the other hand, said that Pakistan must punish those behind the November 2008 Mumbai terror attacks and also stop terror groups from using its territory for launching strikes against India.
The three-day meeting of Indian diplomats is being held to decide about the country's foreign policy and its future course. The conference is being attended by 119 diplomats from across the globe.
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