PM’s message to Sharif a reflection of aspirations, feelings of people: Khurshid

New Delhi – External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Saturday said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s blunt message to his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif during the meeting in New York reflected the aspirations and feelings of the people.

“He has been endorsed as the Prime Minister in a democratic country on the understanding that he will protect the sovereignty, the security and dignity of our people, and this is what in a frank, open and candid manner he told the Prime Minister of Pakistan let us not beat about the bush, about conditions; we want to be friends with Pakistan but not at the cost of compromising our sovereignty, our dignity and the aspirations of our people,” said Khurshid.

“There are ways in which we can be friends, but not in the way in which you are suggesting. And I think that we should applaud and congratulate our Prime Minister, the people should do so because I believe this is true reflection of our people’s aspirations,” he added.

According to reports, Dr Singh told Sharif in New York that he hadn’t become the Prime Minister of India to redraw the boundary.

Dr Singh met Sharif on September 29 amid escalating firing on the Line of Control ( LoC) and the international border.