145;We don146;t remain blind prisoners of the past146;

WITH the Left bent on making the country8217;s foreign policy an election plank in the state polls, PM Manmohan Singh has said he was 8216;8216;not apologetic8217;8217; about forging new relations with the US as it gives the country 8216;8216;greater elbow room8217;8217; and new spaces for better economic development.

WITH the Left bent on making the country8217;s foreign policy an election plank in the state polls, PM Manmohan Singh has said he was 8216;8216;not apologetic8217;8217; about forging new relations with the US as it gives the country 8216;8216;greater elbow room8217;8217; and new spaces for better economic development.

Even as he tried to refute the Left criticism that the new Indo-US understanding compromises the country8217;s independent foreign policy, the PM emphasised that the changing dynamics of the world order required that 8216;8216;we do not remain blind prisoners of the past8217;8217;.

Replying to the debate on the functioning of the External Affairs Ministry in the Rajya Sabha, he was once again quite categorical, 8216;8216;Any notion that the new deal we have with the US amounts to surrender to our independent thinking is totally misplaced.8217;8217;

He not only repeatedly referred to the points raised by CPIM member Sitaram Yechury, but also made clear that India would not be part of any move at regime change in the region. 8216;8216;Certainly, we are not part and parcel of any attempt to change regime,8217;8217; he stressed. Linking foreign policy to foreign capital inflow, he said it was necessary to create space for larger import of technology and capital as well as find markets that can absorb Indian exports.

8216;8216;It is in our interest to engage8217;8217; with that country 8216;8216;to see wherever space exists, we can take advantage of it,8217;8217;

he said.

He said though his government has engaged the US on energy cooperation he had made known to the US media during his July visit to Washington that India considers that the 8216;8216;Iraq invasion was a mistake8217;8217;.

Also drawing a line between a pragmatic foreign policy and ideology-driven one, he said though President A P J Abdul Kalam recently visited Myanmar, India would like to see political space restored to pro-democracy leader Aung Sang Suu Kyi.

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India8217;s engagement with Yangon, he said, should be understood in the context of the need to curb activities of north-eastern insurgent groups operating from that country. But at the same time, whenever India got an opportunity, it had made it known to the authorities there without 8216;8216;mixing metaphor8217;8217; on the need to have democracy.

Promising to pursue a pro-active role with its neighbours for a prosperous, inter-connected South Asia, Singh said Bangladesh Premier Khaleda Zia would be visiting India later this month and the two countries would have candid discussions on bilateral issues.

On India-China relations, he hoped 8216;8216;some solution8217;8217; to the 8216;8216;difficult8217;8217; boundary problem would emerge from the ongoing talks between special representatives of the two countries. Chinese President Hu Jintao would be visiting the country later this year.