Congress backs Manmohan Singh on Indo-Pak joint statement ......NAGPAL PARIS

Congress backs Manmohan Singh on Indo-Pak joint statement (Dharamvir Nagpal Paris)

After over a week of diffidence, the Congress on 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," AICC general secretary Janardan Dwivedi said.

A senior Congress leader had indicated on Saturday that it will back Manmohan 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 Manmohan 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.