NEW DELHI, 5 September 2004 — Making it clear he was no reluctant prime minister, an assertive Manmohan Singh said yesterday that his three-month-old coalition government would last a full-five year term and he could never be pressurized by anyone.

Addressing his first formal press conference on his government’s 106th day in office, Manmohan said India was not shy of discussing Kashmir with Pakistan, he greatly admired the progress made by China and that India’s “legitimate place” in the UN Security Council “can’t be ignored”.

The 71-year-old Manmohan, propelled to power after Congress party President Sonia Gandhi declined to become prime minister, came out as a confident politician as he answered dozens of questions on issues ranging from domestic policies to global diplomacy with aplomb, speaking mainly in English without any aides on his side.

Manmohan did not duck any question, save one convoluted query that he admitted he did not quite understand, and came out as one who knew his job well — and was enjoying the challenge.

Speaking at the Vigyan Bhavan conference center, he called his job “a great challenge, a great opportunity and a great honor” to have been chosen for a position he did not aspire for. For the first time, Manmohan emphatically dispelled all speculation about the longevity of his Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.

“My government will last five years. So let there be no doubt or ambiguity about this,” he said. “Misconceptions that I can be pressurized into giving up are just not going to materialize.” He denied that Sonia was acting as a parallel power center.

“Sonia Gandhi is the chairperson of UPA, and as the Congress president it is only her right to know what is going on in the government,” he said. “Insinuations that there are two separate centers of power have no foundation.”

Manmohan touched upon the economy repeatedly during his 90-minute press meet, saying the Indian economic reforms would continue though there would be “course corrections” to take care of marginalized sections of the community.

“The CMP (the ruling coalition’s Common Minimum Program) has committed us to the reform path that addresses the concern of all sections of the society,” said Manmohan, who began India’s path-breaking economic reforms as finance minister in 1991.

“We will stay the course but we may to do some course correction to address concerns of the community that has not benefited from the first phase of reforms.”

Referring to the opposition on the economic front from the communists, he expressed confidence that his government would “overcome all obstacles”. He also denied there was any “deceleration in growth” in the current fiscal year ending March 31, 2005 despite the rising inflation and drought in parts of the country.

“There is no deceleration of economic growth,” Manmohan said, adding that industrial growth, exports and overseas investments had been “buoyant” in recent months.

Manmohan, who travels to New York this month to address the UN General Assembly, insisted that India’s claim for a permanent seat in the all-powerful Security Council was “a legitimate aspiration”.

“It would not be a very healthy development if India is not represented in the UN Security Council (after its expansion).”

The prime minister said his government was for improving ties with both Pakistan and China and was ready to help “friends in the neighborhood” with their problems.

New Delhi, he reiterated, was firmly opposed to any break-up of Sri Lanka, where rising tensions and killings have fuelled fears of a renewed conflict that has already claimed some 60,000 lives since 1983.

“We are for the unity and integrity of Sri Lanka and at the same time want all the legitimate aspirations of Tamils and other minorities to be met.”

Manmohan said if the dialogue process between New Delhi and Islamabad was to move forward, “Pakistan will have to implement what the president (Pervez Musharraf) had promised” about not allowing its territory to be used for staging terrorist acts in India.

“We are not afraid of discussing Jammu and Kashmir with Pakistan, but I don’t believe that Kashmir is the only issue affecting relations between our countries,” he added.

But Manmohan said he was not promising anything path-breaking in India-Pakistan relations. “The progress has to be achieved step by step. We will make progress.”

Announcing that he would soon visit Jammu and Kashmir, Manmohan called upon all separatist groups in the strife-hit state, where a separatist campaign since 1989 has left thousands dead, to engage in a dialogue with New Delhi.

“We will talk with any group that shuns violence,” he said, referring to both Kashmir as well as the northeastern states.

Manmohan said India was interested in bringing together the divided people of Jammu and Kashmir together and urged Islamabad to act quickly on starting a bus service linking Srinagar and Muzaffarabad cities on both sides.

India is proposing a soft border between the two Kashmirs, now demarcated by a line of control, or the military cease-fire line.