PM rules out Pota revival

By Our Special Correspondent

New Delhi, May 14: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday rejected the BJP’s demand for re-enactment of Pota in the aftermath of the Jaipur blasts and said India would raise the issue of terrorism at the forthcoming Indo-Pak foreign ministers’ meeting.

"All issues which have a bearing on our relations will come up at the meeting," Dr Singh said in reply to a spate of questions on the Jaipur blasts and who was behind them.

Rejecting the BJP demand for bringing back Pota, he said "there is no co-relation between Pota and terrorist strikes".

Wondering "what has Pota achieved", Dr Singh said the attack on Parliament and the Akshardham temple took place when Pota was in force. "There is no dearth of laws in the country to deal with terrorism," he added. As far as terrorists were concerned, he said, they acted in surprise. But the government will explore all possibilities, including intelligence inputs, to arrest those behind the acts, he said. According to him, there were "elements" which did not want peace and normalisation of relations between India and Pakistan.

On the Jaipur blasts, he said it was a "nefarious" design to create communal discord in the country and his government will not allow this to succeed. Asked whether terrorism will figure during external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee’s meeting with his Pakistani counterpart this month, he said all issues which have a bearing on relations between the two countries will come up.

In the wake of the serial blasts, the US cautioned its citizens travelling to India about the situation here and asked them to drop Jaipur from their itinerary. "Americans travelling in India should maintain a low profile and avoid crowded areas and other public places," the advisory said. It said visitors should avoid areas where Tuesday’s blasts occurred.