Saturday, July 2 2005 16:07 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Seeking a "new relationship" with Pakistan, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday (July 1, 2005) said outstanding bilateral problems should not be allowed to become a 'stumbling block,' in greater economic cooperation among South Asian countries.

In an interaction with 2004 Batch of Indian Foreign Service (IFS)probationers at his Race Course Road residence here, he also highlighted India's role as a responsible nuclear power and underlined the need for blocking any further unauthorised proliferation of nuclear weapons.

"It is my honest hope that we can find a new relationship with Pakistan whereby, despite bilateral outstanding problems, we make cautious effort to resolve them. But if all problems cannot be resolved in one go, that should not block the possibilities of economic cooperation," he said.

"Observing that so far Indo-Pak relations have 'proved to be a stumbling block in carrying forward the processes of regional cooperation'. It is our effort to persuade Pakistan that we cannot hold back this process which is underway in many parts of the world and other regions like Asean, European Union and Latin America," he added.

"The Prime Minister spoke of the difficulties in achieving this. We have not succeeded so far. But, I have not given up hope. I am not saying that I see the light at the end of the tunnel. But we are working very hard."

Asserting that India is a responsible nuclear power, Singh said it was ready to cooperate with like-minded countries to promote a regime so that unauthorised proliferation of nuclear weapons was stopped.

"We have voluntarily declared a no-first-use. We have voluntarily declared a moratorium on further test," he added that his government has also passed a stringent law on Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), so that the sensitive technology will not fall into wrong hands. Nuclear disarmament remains our preferred commitment and there is no dilution in it," he stressed.

Maintaining that nation's security was of prime concern, he said without security on the country's borders, India cannot achieve economic and social goals.

Mentioning the role of state and non-state actors in promoting terrorism, the Prime Minister said there was need for a sustained struggle against the scourge while dealing with other problems like disease, poverty and inequality.

"There are forces working for integration. There are forces dividing the world. There are some states who have themselves promoted the scourge of terrorism. civilised world feels threatened by the onslaught of terrorism," he said.

Singh said that in the present era of interdependence, there was a need to develop cooperation among States to tackle formidable problems like environmental degradation and chronic poverty. He asked the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) probationers to project India's values and concerns to the outside world.