Manmohan Singh talks about terrorism, 'unthinkable' events in international affairs

Remembering the innocent civilians who were butchered during the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai a decade ago on this day, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Monday that terror achieves no purpose and emphasised that friendly relations between India and Pakistan are the only way forward.

Unveiling a book by his former Cabinet colleague Manish Tewari "Fables of Fractured Times", Singh said that although he was invited to launch the book, his thoughts were on the Mumbai attacks that took place 10 years ago.

"Our dear citizens were lost due to acts of grave terror. I can only hope that saner elements will prevail in India and Pakistan," he said.

He maintained that terror achieves no purpose and referred to the current state of affairs in Jammu and Kashmir as a result of the "strained relationship" between the countries, separated at birth.

He said that there is a great churning in international affairs, where changes are taking place at a rate that was "unthinkable" 10 years ago.

"Countries which once championed the cause of globalisation are now championing the cause of protectionism. Nobody could have imagined that Britain would walk away from the European Union," he said.

He described Tewari's book, a compendium of his published articles, as a versatile account of the domestic and international events.

(With inputs from agencies.)