Internal strife in Pakistan holding back peace process: PM

New Delhi, Oct 12 (UNI) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said the internal struggle in Pakistan in the past few months had slowed down the peace process with India.

Nevertheless, India remained committed to finding ''pragmatic, practical and viable solutions'' to all outstanding problems that continued to plague relations bilateral ties, Dr Singh said in reply to a question from a Pakistani journalist at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit here.

Never had India and Pakistan had such an intensive dialogue on all outstanding issues as was witnessed in the last three years.

''And, I think, if the process appears to have slowed down this is largely the result of internal problems in Pakistan.,'' he observed, adding ''I don't want to talk about it.'' The Prime Minister reiterated his remark that he cannot imagine a prosperous South Asia without reconciliation between India and Pakistan. The destinies of the people of both the countries were interlinked.

UNI