Manmohan Singh on Pakistan : The relationship between India and Pakistan has been a big challenge for all the governments of the country. Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Manmohan Singh or Narendra Modi... the issue of Pakistan has been a matter of great concern during the tenure of all these Prime Ministers. But do you know what role former PM Manmohan Singh played in establishing peace with Pakistan? Former Deputy National Security Advisor (NSA) Pankaj Saran has shared important information related to this.

Trying to make peace with Pakistan

Pankaj Saran said that during his tenure as Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh "tried a lot" to establish peace with Pakistan, but was not successful. Saran was then a close aide of the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Former Finance Minister and two-time Prime Minister Manmohan Singh died on Thursday at the age of 92. Saran on Thursday described Singh's death as very unfortunate and described him as an intellectual and world-class economist and also described him as a symbol of humility.

Manmohan Singh did not expect that he would become the Prime Minister

"He was a consensus builder, a very simple person, he never expected to become prime minister, but he served for 10 years," the former deputy national security adviser (NSA) said. Saran has been India's ambassador to Russia. He also served in various positions in India and abroad, including as India's high commissioner to Bangladesh. He was appointed deputy NSA in 2018. Saran has said that "He (Manmohan Singh) has always been a good listener, intellectual, world-class economist and widely respected person. He was the first (Indian) prime minister to head the G-20 summit in 2008 and earned a very high reputation among global leaders whose understanding of economics... Overall, I would say he was a very good person, he was a great human being in both private life and public life.''

'I tried a lot but couldn't succeed'

"Among the neighbours, he tried very hard to establish peace with Pakistan but it was not successful. He tried and he was very disappointed that his efforts were not successful. In fact, when he was the Prime Minister in 2008, the 26/11 Mumbai attacks shook him," he recalled.

'Manmohan had talked about military action after the terrorist attack'

Former British Prime Minister David Cameron has mentioned in his memoir that after the July 2011 Mumbai bombings, Manmohan Singh had told him that if there were any more such attacks, India would have to take military action against Pakistan. Three bomb blasts occurred at various places in Mumbai on 13 July 2011. The blasts took place in the Opera House, Zaveri Bazaar and Dadar West areas between 6:54 pm and 7:06 pm, killing 26 people and injuring 130.

In his book 'For the Record' published in the year 2019, Cameron wrote, "I had a good relationship with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He was a saintly man, but he was very tough about the threats facing India. Later on a visit, he told me that if another terrorist attack like the terrorist attack in Mumbai in July 2011 happened, India would have to take military action against Pakistan." During a visit to Amritsar in 2013, when he and Singh were Prime Ministers, Cameron described the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre as a very shameful incident in British history. Former Finance Minister and two-time Prime Minister Manmohan Singh died on Thursday at the age of 92.