theSun | TUESDAY MAY 19 2009 7

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MELT IN YOUR MOUTH DOUGHNUTS AT BERJAYA TIMES SQUARE

Pakistani jets
Congress cements power,
Congress
president
Sonia
Gandhi and
bomb militant
Manmohan
Singh at
hideouts in Swat
a party’s PESHAWAR: Pakistani fighter jets

stock market surges

NEW DELHI: India’s Congress-led coalition
is eyeing possible new allies after its general
election victory, with the Indian stock market
surging yesterday on hopes of a strong and
stable government. Prime Minister Manmo-
han Singh’s coalition defied predictions of
a tight election and was only about 11 seats
short of a majority from the 543 seats at
stake, according to election commission data,
though the final count see tiny changes.
In a country where unwieldy coalitions
were becoming the order of the day and hob-
bling policy, the electoral verdict this time
means Congress will call the shots in coali-
tion building rather than being dependent on
the goodwill of regional parties. Congress’
alliance took 261 seats, sweeping aside its
nearest rival, the bloc led by the Hindu-na-
tionalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which
won only 159 combined.
A strong Congress-led coalition, free of
pressures from its former communist part-
ners, has boosted the prospect of reforms
to encourage growth in Asia’s third largest
economy. Indian markets were expected to
welcome the outcome.
The rupee was expected to strengthen
past 49 per dollar and bond yields were set to
fall as the outcome should encourage foreign
investors, analysts said.
“The markets could go up anywhere be-
tween 1,100-1,300 points over the next two
to three days because you cannot have asked
for a better combination,” Arun Kejriwal,
strategist at KRIS, said of the share market.
Congress, which alone won 205 seats,
needs a handful of partners to reach the 272
seats needed to take power, and is expected
to seeks the support of more smaller parties
or independents.
Congress leaders will meet today to of-
working
committee
meeting in
New Delhi
on Sunday.
EPAPIX
ficially endorse Manmohan Singh as prime
minister, after which the party will meet its
coalition partners to decide potential new
allies. The government will also have a
strong mandate to deal with security issues
in a region overshadowed by instability in
Pakistan and Afghanistan. – Reuters
and attack helicopters bombarded
militant hideouts in the northwest
Swat valley yesterday, intensifying
an offensive around a key Taliban
stronghold, officials said.
The military said troops were
closing in on Mingora, the capital
of Swat and under Taliban control,
as part of a punishing anti-militant
offensive, which the United Na-
tions said displaced more than 1.1
million people in two weeks.
“Fighter jets and helicopter
gunships targeted hideouts of
Taliban militants in Peochar and
Takhta Bund areas in Swat yes-
terday morning,” a military official
said on condition of anonymity.
Another security official con-
firmed shelling against suspected
militant hideouts in the two areas
and described Takhta Bund as the
main supply route for Taliban holed
up in Mingora. Pakistani authorities
say more than 1,000 militants and
45 soldiers have been killed in a
three-pronged onslaught launched
in the northwest districts of Lower
Dir on April 26, Buner on April 28
and Swat on May 8.
The military says up to 15,000
troops were taking on about 4,000
well-armed fighters in Swat,
where Islamabad has ordered a
battle to “eliminate” Islamist mili-
tants, branded by Washington the
greatest terror threat to the West.
Islamabad ordered the offensive
under mounting US pressure after
Islamist fighters took up positions
just 100km from the capital. – AFP