London: Leading NRI industrialist Lord Swraj Paul today (May 19, 2004) said it was very sad that after winning the Lok Sabha elections, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi has chosen not to take up Prime Ministership and hoped that it was not because of threats.

"It is surprising and it is very sad after doing such a tremendous job of winning the elections, that she should have done it now. A lot of reasons are coming forth. All I hope is that it is not the threat at all which will be a sad day for democracy because I believe very strongly India has a matured democracy and we follow the will of the people," Lord Paul said in an interview with BBC Radio 4 this morning.

"Sonia's action has certainly enhanced her standing because she has proved an excellent leader and campaigner," he said.

Asked about Manmohan Singh, who is widely tipped to be the next Prime Minister, Lord Paul said, "He is a very good economist and very sober person but his problem will be... he is from the Rajya Sabha and it is not he who led the party during the elections.

"It is difficult enough in that situation to manage your own party but it becomes more difficult to manage an alliance.

"However, Manmohan Singh is a very sober man and thoughtful. He has the ingredient to be able to get along with all and I wish him good luck which he will need."

Asked whether the India-Pakistan dialogue would continue under the new regime, Lord Paul said, "I am sure it will go on".

Lord Paul pointed out that one should not confuse that it was not necessarily the whole NDA (National democratic Alliance) Government but the standing and experience of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, which made the talks possible.

"That will be missing but the dialogue will go on. The people of both countries have realised the importance of talks and they will make sure that both Governments pursued the talks and achieved the objectives.

"People should not forget that Vajpayee's own standing was great and he has the same image and standing as Prime Minister as Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi."