Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee has said President Asif Ali Zardari is sincere to end menace of terrorism. "I would like to say that I believe in his sincerity because he himself is a victim of the terror attack. His wife, one of the tall leaders of the subcontinent fell victim to the senseless brutal terror attack," Mukherjee said in an interview with Karan Thapar in the programme of "Devil's Advocate" on CNN-IBN.
"I believe he (Zardari) has desire to fight against terrorism," he said, adding Zardari is a "nice man" and a "gentleman". Mukherjee also described Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani and Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi as gentlemen. But, he said, "it is not a question of individual personalities." He said the incumbent government of Pakistan had the "responsibility" to act. "When we talk, we talk of the incumbent government," he said. To a question, he refused to comment on the system of Pakistan, saying, "it is for them to address this issue." He said Pakistan should take tough action to end cross-border terrorism.
"Relations between India and Pakistan are not the pointed issue at this point of time. Pointed issue is how to fight terrorism. It is not the question of improving bilateral relationship. Bilateral relations are there. "People-to-people contact is still there," he said while replying to a question on Pak-India relations.
Mukherjee also disagreed with British Foreign Secretary David Miliband that India had raised the "temperature" in ties with Pakistan. "We have never raised the temperature. This is the phrase, I think, the British Foreign Secretary used and I do not think that. No, I have not raised the temperature," he said.
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