Prime Minister Manmohan Singh treated BJP veteran Lal Krishna Advani as a red rag, attacking him head-on in the Lok Sabha for the second time in two days and bluntly telling him not to spread "disinformation" on sensitive matters. His ire was over Advani's allegation that India initiated talks with Pakistan last week under pressure from US President Obama.

Not even once Obama pressurised for the talks nor did he seek mediation from Saudi Arabia to settle issues with Pakistan, the prime minister said in the house on Friday, while making it clear that he sees no foreign powers' role in South Asia and fundamental issues of India's security and foreign policy will be always based on the national interests.

Saudi Arabia is also affected by terrorism and Pakistan figured in his talks with it in that context when he stressed that all problems can be resolved by Delhi and Islamabad bilaterally if Pakistan were urged to deal with terrorist attacks in India emanating from the neighbouring country, the prime minister said winding up a three-day debate in the Lok Sabha on the motion of thanks on the President's address that was later adopted by a voice vote.

He also justified last week's India-Pakistan foreign secretary-level talks initiated by his government, pointing out that the decision was not sudden but taken after calculated and careful considerations as "dialogue is the only way forward for civilised countries to settle issues."

Talks were a sequel to a consistent and cautious approach towards Pakistan that the channel of communications should not break down, Singh said, pointing out how the US and the then Soviet Union kept talking even at the height of cold war. "Our not talking to Pakistan is not going to isolate it," he affirmed.

He also made it clear that the government fully shares the House concern over terrorism perpetrated from Pakistan and that is why the government keeps stressing that there is need for Pakistan to curb terrorist acts emanating from its soil against India, even if they are mounted by the non-state actors. It has to fulfil the promise not to allow its territory used for terrorism, he said.

"Whatever our problems in South Asia, we must learn to talk to each other," Manmohan Singh said while underlining a new understanding with Bangladesh to not allow its territory for terror attacks. As regards China, he talked of both committment to security and stability and partnership that is mutually beneficiary and pointed out the understanding on peace until disputes over borders are settled.

The prime minister also took on Advani on the issue of pension revision to the lower ranks of the armed forces on which he had locked horns on Thursday as well, instantly refuting the charge of not fulfilling commitment to the ex-servicemen that he gave in the Independence Day address in 2008.

Advani's claim in the BJP MPs' meeting on Thursday that he had lied as the pension is not hiked till the date provoked Singh to assert that he need not confuse by referring to the demand of "one-rank, one-pension" as that was rejected by a high-powered panel even while recommending substantial enhancement in the pension of the ex-servicemen that was accepted by the government. Five of its recommendations are already implemented and the remaining two will be too "very soon," he declared.

On Advani claim that farmers' suicides have continued, he asserted that but for the one-time loan waiver of Rs.72,000 crores that benefitted 6.78 lakh farmers, they would not have been eligible for fresh credit. The government has set the target of Rs.3,25,000 crore credit to farmers in the coming year, he added. He ridiculed Advani and fellow BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi, who was the rearguard last speaker on the motion of thanks, for claiming that the loan waiver helped the banks and not farmers.

Singh was all smile when Joshi built up the case of India wrongly banking on 'American scientists' for boosting its agriculture and later asserted in his retort that the senior BJP leader like him should have no "galat-fahami" (misgiving) on that score as the government recognises importance of food security coming only from self-reliance. He pointed out that the Congress governments have always pursued the policy of self-reliance so far as agriculture goes and there should be no doubts to anybody that the UPA government would do otherwise.

When Joshi tried to pursue Advani's line on India losing Kashmir as he wanted the prime minister to reaffirm parliament's unanimous resolve of 1994 that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and will remain so by himself bringing a fresh resolution, it was turn of former J&K chief minister and now Renewable Energy Minister Farooq Abdullah to jump to his feet, asserting that India is not wearing bangles and that J&K is and will ever remain part of India.

"Your leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee had also said that India is not that weak that China or Pakistan can swallow it," Abdullah said, adding that in any such eventuality "every Indian will rise in defence of the country."