Indian new PM on foreign, domestic policies

Indian Prime Minister-designate Manmohan Singh Thursday said that India seeks most friendly relations with its neighbors, including Pakistan.

Singh said that "we must find ways and means to solve all the problems between India and Pakistan peacefully."

"Who had thought that the Berlin Wall would melt. If those impossible things can happen, why not it be in our case," Singh said in his first press conference a day after President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam invited him to form a Congress-led coalition government.

He said that without sacrificing the national security it wouldbe the endeavor of the new government to be more forward in building relations with Pakistan.

Singh said that India will talk to all parties,including separatist Hurriyat Conference, to bring permanent peace to Kashmir.

Singh also asserted that his coalition government would be stable and work to unite people, not divide them on the basis of religion.

"I have no doubt about the stability of this government, I am sure the government will last five years," he added.

Singh also urged "patriotic Indians" to join in the crusade against poverty, ignorance and disease.

Strengthening communal harmony in all conditions was India's major challenge, he said that "if there are attempts to divide thenation on caste and religion, there will be danger to the country's unity and integrity."

"We have to generally produce an atmosphere of peace."

Singh noted that his Congress party's mandate was to "unite people and provide a strong, purposeful secular government".

Speaking of reform initiatives, Singh stressed that public enterprises like ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Corportation Limited), GAIL(Erstwhile Gas Authority of India Ltd) will not be privatized.

"We are not pursuing privatization as part of our ideological commitment. India needs a strong private sector as also a public sector," he told reporters here.

"Public sector units like GAIL and ONGC will remain in the public sector. There is no intention to privatize them," he said.

He said we will not do anything which will throw large pool of workers jobless.

Source: Xinhua