New Delhi: Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday came out in strong support of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's India-Pakistan joint statement.
Clarifying her party's stand over the joint statement and Pakistan policy, Sonia said, "The Prime Minister made a firm and unequivocal statement in Lok Sabha yesterday. No one should be in any doubt on our party's position vis-a-vis Pakistan."
"We support the resumption of the dialogue with Pakistan but only after it has demonstrated its seriousness to bring the perpetrators of 26/11 attackers to justice," she said.
The Congress president said these were imperative for restoring confidence and building an environment conducive to any meaningful dialogue.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's statement in Parliament, defending his Pakistan policy in the strongest terms, set the tone for Sonia's address to her party MPs.
Sources had said that Sonia would throw her weight behind the Prime Minister, hoping to silence the critics within the party.
There was disquiet in sections in the Congress on the joint statement, and it's still not clear how the PM's statement in Parliament went down with the party.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has welcomed the sentiments for peace expressed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in his Parliament address.
He said the Indian Prime Minister has rightly emphasized the importance of honourable settlement of the outstanding issues between India and Pakistan.
Gilani commended Singh for his 'bold vision of peace and prosperity in South Asia' and the 'statesmanship that he has demonstrated'.
Earlier in Parliament, making it clear that his government's stand is firm on terrorism, the Prime Minister said that his government has a zero-tolerance policy against terror.
Reiterating his government's stand that talks between India and Pakistan cannot proceed if terrorists target our country, the Prime Minister said, "There cannot be any normalisation of ties unless Pakistan acts against terror."
He also defended the government's move on resuming talks with Pakistan, saying, "There is no other way of moving forward unless you want war."
Clarifying government's stand on the Indo-Pak joint statement, the Prime Minister said it does not say talks with Pakistan despite terror attacks. He maintained that it is impossible to go forward with talks till Pakistan stops terror.