Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told US President Barack Obama about cross-border terrorism to let him know “his true feelings” and concerns and it was not in the form of a complaint, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said today.
“No, No. It was not a complaint. I do not think, we should see this as a complaint,” Khurshid told PTI in an interview when asked about news reports in Pakistani media that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was not pleased about Singh taking up the issue of Pakistan with Obama.
“We should understand this in a context. They (Obama and Singh) are good friends. They wanted to be open and wanted to share with each other. And Prime Minister does not hold back as far as Obama is concerned,” the Minister said.
“I think he has a comfort level with Obama. And he just let him know his true feelings. I do not think it was in the form of a complaint. I do not think it was in the form of showing Nawaz Sharif down or Pakistan down,” he said.
“The Prime Minister has very open in his relationship with Obama. They like each other. They feel for each other.
They use words like inspire me. And Obama holds him in a very high esteem. So it is sharing concerns between friends,” Khurshid said, who was present in the meeting with Obama on Friday.
Talking to reporters with Obama along after their hour-long meeting, Singh said Pakistan continues to remain an “epicentre of terrorism’’.
“I explained to President Obama the difficulties that we face given the fact that the epicentre of terror still remains focused in Pakistan,” Singh had said in a joint media appearance with Obama.