Skip to main content

Manmohan says didn’t intend to hurt Zardari

NEW DELHI: "It was not my intention in any way to hurt Zardari Sahib's feelings," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday on his virtual public snub to Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari.

Speaking to reporters accompanying him on his way back home from Italy, said he had not intended to say that in the presence of all the media.

"Let me say that what I had said to Zardari Sahib, I had not intended to say that in the presence of all the media. I simply forgot that the media were present there. It was not my intention in any way to hurt Zardari Sahib's feelings," he said in reply to a question.

Ahead of their meeting in Yekaterinburg in Russia last month, Singh had told Zardari in their first meeting after the chill brought about by the Mumbai terror strike that .

"I am happy to meet you but my mandate is limited to telling you that the territory of Pakistan must not be allowed to be used for terrorism against India."

He was replying to a question about his "unusual" step in Yekaterinburg when a reporter wanted to know whether such messages work on Pakistani leaders and whether it was business as usual in Pakistan.

A few days after the incident, Zardari cancelled his trip to Sharm el sheik in Egypt where he was to meet Singh on the sidelines of the NAM early next week.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Cuba's world-famous cigar festival closes in Havana

Sunday, February 28, 2010 HAVANA: Hundreds of wealthy merchants and cigar aficionados from all parts of the world gathered in Havana this week to bid high stakes for humidors full of premium cigars. Cuba's annual Habanos festival ended on Friday night with an auction of ornate humidors of cedar and mahogany stacked with hand-rolled stogies that raised 800,000 euros ($1.09 million dollars). Habanos S.A. executives this month said cigar sales fell 8 percent to $360 million in 2009, so they have created the Julieta, a smaller, milder version of the Romeo y Julieta cigar, aimed specifically at female smokers. Women now make up only 5 to 10 percent of customers for Habanos. But even with the creation of the Julieta, Garcia said Habanos has only modest hopes for 2010 sales, due largely to a weak economy in Spain, the biggest market for Cuban cigars. The flavor of premium tobacco relies on the soil and climate in which it is grown. The western province of Pinar Del Rio, famous fo...

Snake bite deaths

Monday, July 06, 2009 COLOMBO: The Sri Lankan government recorded some 33,000 snake bites in 2008, with most of the victims coming from remote villages.The Department of Government Information said in a statement that most of the snake bite cases could be fatal if neglected.The statement said snake bites are often neglected in Sri Lanka as victims do not seek treatment at hospitals where advanced medication is available. Instead, the victims rush to traditional type of treatment which could be a risk, reports Xinhua.Snake bites death at domestic level, outside hospitals, go unrecorded, said the statement.Most victims of snake bite are from the rural and remote villages where there is no electricity after dusk.Statistics show that Sri Lanka has over 90 species of snake with around 10 species possessing venom capable of killing a human being.In Sri Lanka the annual death rate due to snake bite envenoming is one of the highest in the world being 6 in 100,000 population.

Berlin Celebrates the Day the Wall Fell

Tuesday, November 10, 2009 BERLIN: World leaders and partying Germans are descending on Berlin Nov. 9 to mark the 20th anniversary of the day the Berlin Wall was breachedIt is a day for celebrations and commemorations, for festivities and sober reflection. Berlin is marking 20 years since the fall of the Wall on Monday with a series of events, big and small. Leaders from around the world are descending on the German capital to help celebrate the momentous events of Nov. 9, 1989, a date that has come to symbolize the end of communism in Eastern Europe. The main focus of events will be the historic Brandenburg Gate, where 20 years ago, joyful East and West Berliners gathered together to dance on top of the wall and celebrate the sudden opening up of the Iron Curtain. The iconic gateway had once stood in the midst of no man's land, surrounded by barbed wire and machine guns. Now 20 years on, a concert and fireworks display will recall those heady moments. A line of 1,000 foam dominoe...