Destinies of India and Pak are interlinked: PM

Seeking a neighbourhood of peace, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday wished Pakistan, grappling with many internal problems, success in tackling terrorism.

Reaching out to Pakistan for the third consecutive day, Dr Singh said destinies of the two countries and that of other South Asian countries were closely interlinked.

"Pakistan is grappling with many internal problems. Rise of terrorism is one of them. I wish them success (in combating terrorism)," Dr Singh said addressing the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit in New Delhi.

On Wednesday, Dr Singh had in Srinagar renewed India's hand of friendship with Pakistan and followed it up on Thursday, saying there were no pre-conditions for holding dialogue but made it clear that cross-border terrorism has to end from the country.

The prime minister focussed on the need for a strong South Asia and said India "sincerely wishes" to resolve all outstanding issues with its neighbours through dialogue.

"India will be happy to extend a helpful and supportive hand to all its neighbours," he said.

At the same time, Dr Singh emphasised the need for leadership in the region, which has the courage to take bold decisions.

"We should not allow our past to limit our future," Dr Singh said.

"To paraphrase Rabindra Tagore, we must not allow narrow domestic walls to confine us to the deadly sand of dead habits. Instead, we should dip into the clear stream of reason and walk forward into ever-widening thought and action so that we can build not just a new India by 2020 but a new South Asia," he said.

When asked about China extending its influence in the neighbourhood, including Nepal and Pakistan, and whether India's armed forces were prepared to deal with the situation, Dr Singh said: "I think security concerns are the primary responsibility of every civilised country and you have my assurance that we will and we have been paying adequate attention to protect and preserve the security of our country," he said.

On India's relations with China, the prime minister said that he had more than one occasion noted that both the countries have immense opportunities to work together in cooperation.

"(This is) because there is ample space in the world to accommodate the growth ambitions of both India and China. We have problems of border but we have also agreed that pending the resolution of the boundary questions, peace and tranquillity should prevail along the border and entire," he said.