David Cameron due for talks with Indian prime minister
David Cameron is due to hold talks with his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh on the final day of his "jobs mission" to the country.
The talks in Delhi are expected to focus on trade and security.
They follow the UK prime minister's warning to India's neighbour Pakistan about "promoting the export of terror".
In an article for the Guardian, Pakistan's High Commissioner to the UK accused Mr Cameron of "damaging the prospects of regional peace".
On Wednesday, the prime minister told reporters after a speech in the southern Indian city of Bangalore that it was intolerable Pakistan should be allowed to "look both ways".
His remarks follow the leaking of US documents on the WikiLeaks website in which Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence agency was accused of secretly helping the Afghan insurgency.
'Enormous role'
In the Guardian, Pakistan's High Commissioner to the UK Wajid Shamsul Hasan criticised Mr Cameron for choosing to believe leaks that the official said lacked both credibility and corroboration.
Writing in the paper, he said: "One would have wished that the prime minister would have considered Pakistan's enormous role in the war on terror and the sacrifices it has rendered since 9/11.
"There seems to be more reliance on information based on intelligence leaks which lack credibility of proof. A bilateral visit aimed at earning business could have been done without damaging the prospects of regional peace."
Later, Mr Hasan told the BBC that he hoped Mr Cameron's comments were a "slip of the tongue" and "not a meant slight by him".
"He is new in government, maybe he will learn soon and he will know how to handle things," said the high commissioner.
"I hope he will make amends and he will pacify the people of Pakistan as well as the government of Pakistan because it has been taken here very adversely, people are really hurt."
On Wednesday, Mr Cameron's spokeswoman insisted he had been talking about Pakistan as a country, not its government - saying the main message was for Pakistan to shut "terror groups" down.
The BBC's Sanjoy Majumder said Mr Cameron had "certainly made an impression with his comments on Pakistan, which were being seen as unusually blunt".
Nuclear deal
His remarks are likely to be welcomed by officials in Delhi, which has long accused its neighbour of backing attacks on Indian targets.
The two nuclear-armed rivals have fought three wars, with peace negotiations stalling following the Mumbai attacks of 2008, which India blamed on Pakistani-based militants.
Pakistan's president, Asif Ali Zardari, is to visit Britain next week.
The BBC's Laura Kuenssberg, who is travelling with the prime minister, said his remarks about Pakistan were likely to be welcomed by Mr Singh when the two men meet later.
"The final day of the prime minister's foreign foray also completes what he has described as his mission for jobs," she added.
The aim of Mr Cameron's two-day visit to India is to strengthen relations and assert the UK as the "partner of choice" for India.
Downing Street has described the trip as the largest UK trade delegation in living memory.
On Wednesday, Business Secretary Vince Cable, who is among several senior cabinet colleagues accompanying Mr Cameron on his trip, announced the government would allow the export of British civil nuclear technology to India for the first time.
The two governments also announced a £700m deal between BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce and India's leading aerospace company Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, to supply 57 Hawk trainer aircraft to India.
(BBC, 29.07.2010) |