'India to expedite talks with Pakistan'

Kashmiri Muslim college girls perform a local dance during celebrations for India's 57th anniversary of independence, inside a heavily guarded Bakshi stadium, in Srinagar yesterday. 22 people, mostly school children, were killed in bomb blasts in Assam while another 15 were wounded when militants fired a grenade at the I-Day celebration programme in Kashmir. PHOTO: AFP

In his first Independence Day address since being elected in May, Singh said the peace talks that began last year between India and Pakistan, which were split in 1947 when they became independent from Britain, should be based on trust.

"We want a solution to all our disputes with Pakistan through dialogue and the ongoing talks will be pursued with determination and honesty," Singh said.

"We must stand on the twin pillars of mutual trust and confidence. But of course, cross-border terrorism and violence make our task more difficult and complex," he said.

"Terrorism is a major threat and we will unitedly combat this. Let there be no doubt on this score because violence cannot lead to development and progress," he said.

The nuclear-armed neighbours have fought three wars since 1947, two of them over the disputed region of Kashmir.

India has accused Pakistan of backing Islamic militants fighting its forces in the Indian section of Kashmir despite the peace process under way between them.

Pakistan denies the allegations, saying it only offers moral and diplomatic support to what it calls the Kashmiris' struggle for self-expression.

Singh, 72, added that the government was willing to hold dialogue with any of the several rebel groups around the country, many of which are behind the 15-year insurgency in Kashmir, that renounced violence.

"But if any group shuns the path of violence and wants to talk, we are ready to hold talks with them," he said.