No dissent on pacts with Pakistan and US: Congress

Reports of unease within notwithstanding, Congress on Wednesday dismissed suggestions of "dissent" on the controversial Indo-Pak joint statement and the pact with the US on end user monitoring but still appeared shy of backing the government.

"There is no dissent in the party on the issue. Once the Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh) has spoken clearly on it, there is no need to add anything," party spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan told reporters in New Delhi.

She was replying to a volley of questions on whether there was opposition in the Congress against the joint statement issued in Egypt.

Asked about the murmurs of dissent within the party on the joint statement and the end user agreement issue, Natarajan said, "there are no murmurs within the party. The Minister of External Affairs has also clarified on the issue (end user pact). We have nothing further to add".

While Sonia Gandhi held parleys with some senior leaders, party sources maintained that they were routine interaction of the party chief seeking to dismiss suggestions that the two issues figured in the discussions.

Asked why was the party not welcoming the joint statement and the end user pact, Natarajan repeated that there was no dissent in the party.

To a query whether the party was reluctant to support the Prime Minister on the two issues, she said, "how can the party be reluctant...?  We are simply saying that we have nothing to add."

On the end user defence pact, she said how can we comment on it when it is not even in public domain.

Asked why  the Congress President has not addressed the party MPs  in a CPP meeting as has been customary in the Budget session, Natarajan said she was not aware of the date when the CPP meeting would be held.

Congress has been adopting a guarded approach on the issue relating to references in the controversial Indo-Pak joint statement on delinking of terrorism from the composite dialogue and including Balochistan in it.

Party spokesman Manish Tewari on Tuesday said: "Congress has nothing to say on it".  He had said "these are issues that lie squarely within the government domain. These issues have technical undertones, which the government is in the best position to answer and the government is not shying away from replying."

Another spokesman Abhishek Singhvi too had refused to take a stand on the issue saying it was for the government to give further clarification.