Shahi imam Syed Ahmad Bukhari’s brother during the scuffle outside the Prime Minister’s residence. Telegraph picture

New Delhi, April 18: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today told a delegation of Muslim representatives, led by the shahi imam of Jama Masjid, that his government had not “succumbed” to any external pressure on foreign policy and that improved relations with the US were in the “interest of all citizens” of the country.

Over a month after the Congress-led government faced the anger of the minority community on a series of issues ? from the furore over any army “headcount” to cartoons caricaturing the Prophet and George W. Bush’s visit on March 2 ? Singh fielded tough questions from the team that called on him.

Syed Ahmad Bukhari, the Jama Masjid imam, said the Prime Minister, too, had his share of queries. He asked why Muslims in India were upset with the visit of the US President. “He reminded us that Bush had stopped over in Pakistan and Afghanistan as well,” said Bukhari.

The imam replied that the opposition to Bush was not from Muslims alone.

“I informed him the conditions in India are different from those in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Pakistan cannot be cited as an example because in India, not just Muslims but the members of the other communities too are against the US brand of dadagiri. India’s sovereignty is dear to Hindus and Muslims alike and neither will tolerate any takeover by Bush or anyone else.”

In response, Singh “defended” Indo-US relations and restated the government’s position on the Iran nuclear vote ? that Tehran had a “clandestine” nuclear programme for several years and it was not in India’s interest to have another nuclear weapons state in its neighbourhood.

Shortly after Bush’s visit, the Prime Minister had said he would invite Muslim scholars and leaders to explain the government’s stand on the Indo-US nuclear deal and Iran. But after the Varanasi blasts, the government decided to put contentious issues behind it and “get on with life”.

After the low-intensity blasts at Jama Masjid last Friday, the Prime Minister visited the venue and followed it up with today’s meeting. The imam came with a list of demands ? a relief package identical to that given to 1984 anti-Sikh riot victims, reservation for backward Muslims and an increase in the corpus of funds for the Maulana Azad Educational Foundation from Rs 100 crore to Rs 500 crore.

The reservation issue provoked a scuffle between Bukhari’s aides and a TV reporter, Yusuf Ansari, outside the Prime Minister’s residence. Bukhari reportedly ignored Ansari’s questions. When Ansari protested, an aide slapped him. “I condemn the actions of both,” the imam said.