Narayanan says Zardari ‘really honest’ with India

[LahoreEstate]

* Indian NSA says New Delhi does not want to weaken democratic govt in Pakistan

Daily Times Monitor

LAHORE: President Asif Ali Zardari is ‘really honest’ on Islamabad’s ties with New Delhi, Indian National Security Adviser MK Narayanan said in a TV interview aired on Thursday.

Asked by ‘India Tonight’ host Karan Thapar if he thought Zardari’s ‘reassuring’ statements were sincere or just rhetoric, Narayanan said: “Left to myself, I’m always suspicious. (But) I think in nearly five years with my prime minister I have realised that it is better to be more trusting than suspicious, so I think that in this relationship with the prime minister of India I think President Zardari is really being honest.”

Narayanan said there was “tremendous warmth” between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Zardari, which he described as “genuine”.

“I don’t think it is a put on show but I think everybody recognises that the power lies elsewhere, not necessarily with the president and the prime minister,” he said in the CNBC TV18 programme. “It’s nothing that we can do anything about, but the fact is that it’s difficult therefore to do business [with the democratic government].”

He said India was ‘very worried’ about the stability of Pakistan “and we will do everything to have a stable Pakistan as our neighbour”. He made it clear that India did not want to weaken President Zardari and would try to ensure the success of “Pakistan’s experiment with democracy”.

“We are trying our level best not to add to his problems by doing anything or saying anything. I think this government has come under tremendous attack from all elements in India, strategic thinkers, people in think tanks, and what not... We believe that we need to be careful,” he said. “We believe that if it succeeds it will have a sort of meaningful effect in the region and certainly would be something that India would rejoice over.”

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...2009_pg7_8