Linking prosperity in South Asia to Indo-Pak reconciliation, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday said peace process between the two countries had slowed down over the past few months because of internal problems in Pakistan.

He said India remained committed to finding pragmatic, practical and viable solutions to all outstanding problems that have plagued relations between the neighbours in the past.

Answering a question at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit here on slowing down of the peace process, Singh said India and Pakistan never had such an intensive dialogue on all outstanding issues as was witnessed in the last three years.

"And, I think, if the process appears to have slowed down this is largely the result of internal problems in Pakistan." he observed but did not elaborate, saying "I don't want to talk about it."

Singh went on to add that he cannot imagine a prosperous South Asia without reconciliation between India and Pakistan and asserted the destinies of the people of both the countries are interlinked.

"I have said repeatedly that the destinies of the people of India and Pakistan are closely interlinked and I cannot think of a prosperous South Asia if there is no reconciliation between India and Pakistan."

"As far as our government is concerned, we are committed to finding pragmatic, practical and viable solutions to all the outstanding problems that have plagued the Indo-Pakistan relations in the past," he added.

(Courtesy: PTI)