Congress firmly behind Manmohan Singh on Indo-Pak joint statement

New Delhi, July 27 (ANI): The Congress Party on Monday openly backed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the Indo -Pak joint statement issued in Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt, earlier this month.

Congress General Secretary Janaradhan Dwivedi said the party is confident that Singh would set all questions to rest during his speech in Parliament on July 29.

The statement issued after talks between Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani has generated a lot of criticism from the opposition.

On Saturday, Singh said he had the answers to all the questions and would give them at an appropriate time.

Earlier, it was reported that several Congress leaders, and some senior ministers, had serious reservations about the joint statement, especially on the delinking of terror from the composite dialogue and the reference to Balochistan.

On Friday the Congress Core Committee held a two hour-long meeting at the 7, Race Course residence of the Prime Minister, and decided to back the latter whole heartedly.

Meanwhile, Union Home Minister P.Chidambaram has said that there is no difference between the party and the government on the joint statement and added that the Congress party would stand firmly behind Singh when the issue comes up in Parliament. (ANI)