PM for trade ties with Pak
Ready to buy power, sell wheat
From Jatinder Sharma
Tribune News Service

SIKAR, Nov 21 — Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee reiterated here today that India favoured friendly relations with Pakistan and restoration of trade between the two countries.

Addressing a mammoth election rally organised by the district BJP, he said India was also willing to sign a "no first use of nuclear bomb" treaty with Pakistan. But he regretted that "Pakistan has not responded favourably to our offer".

The Prime Minister said India was in favour of relaxing the visa and passport rules for travel between the two neighbouring countries. India, he said, was willing to purchase electricity from Pakistan and supply wheat to it.

The BJP appears to have made a dent in the Shekhawati region of the desert state if the gathering in the rally is any indication. The Shekhawati belt has been considered a stronghold of the Congress since the first general election in 1952.

During the last Assembly elections, the BJP had won from only one constituency of this district. But in the last Lok Sabha elections, the BJP candidate, Mr Subhash Meharia, had taken the lead in five of the eight Assembly segments that formed part of the Sikar Parliamentary constituency.

Mr Vajpayee advised the Congress not to make spurt in prices an election issue. He said his government was making strenuous efforts to control the prices and asked the farmers to cultivate pulses as well.

He said a meeting of the Chief Ministers of all states would be held at Delhi on November 27 to review the situation and decide on corrective measures. The government, he said, had imported mustard oil worth Rs 2700 crore and would not hesitate to import again if the situation so warranted.

During his 30-minute speech, Mr Vajpayee said the nuclear explosion at Pokhran should not be made an election issue. "It was not a political issue and instead it was a national requirement", he said amidst thunderous applause from the young audience who constituted most of the gathering.

He said Kashmir was an integral part of India but still his government agreed to discuss the issue with Pakistan. The aim, he told the audience, was to normalise relations between the two inseparable neighbours.

Mr Vajpayee said, in order to woo the farming community, his government had decided to introduce crop insurance throughout the country so that farmers did not suffer financial loss because of natural calamities. He regretted that even after 50 years of independence, the country had no agriculture policy.

He assured the minorities that his government would not discriminate against any community on the basis of religion. He pleaded for providing respect and honour to women and warned that the government was considering amendment in the law to make provision of death sentence to the rapist.

Mr Vajpayee decried the politician-criminal nexus and held it responsible for corruption in high places. This nexus was at its peak during the Congress regime, he said.