Facing stiff opposition from allies over various measures, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said difficult decisions were getting "more difficult" because of coalition compulsions and pressed for eschewing narrow partisan approaches in the interest of the country.
Singh made a strong pitch for the NCTC (National Centre for Counter Terrorism), saying it was an important step to fight terrorism but made it clear that no further action would be taken on it without full consultations with states.
Replying to debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President's Address, he spoke about the opposition to the NCTC and responded to the demands by Tamil parties for supporting UN resolution against Sri Lanka by saying that India was "inclined" to do so if it meets its "objectives" with regard to the future for ethnic Tamils "based on equality, dignity, justice and self respect".
He also talked about the difficult situation in the economic field and expressed commitment to reforms to push growth.
"I am sure members realise that difficult decisions we have to take are made more difficult by the fact that we are a coalition government... We need to have consensus," he said.
In this regard, he cited as an example the Railway Budget which faced strong opposition from ally Trinamool Congress and Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi was forced to quit.
"This is an occasion to eschew narrow partisan approach," Singh said.
Devoting substantial part of his reply to the NCTC, he said it was imperative for the country to defeat terrorism and left-wing extremism if it were to achieve its growth objectives.
"NCTC is an important step to give security to all the citizens of the country," he said.
