The contentious statement included a reference to threats to Balochistan, a Pakistan border province plagued by unrest, for the first time in a bilateral document between the two countries.

'I told (Pakistani) Prime Minister (Yousuf Raza) Gilani that our conduct is an open book. If Pakistan has any evidence, and they have not given me any and no dossier has been given, we are willing to look at it because we have nothing to hide,' Manmohan Singh told parliament.

The joint statement in which Balochistan had been included caused a storm in India.

Spokesperson of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party Ravi Shankar Prasad said: 'By one stroke you have given some kind of culpable legitimacy to the government of Pakistan to allege in the international forum that India foments problems in Balochistan.'