India for talks on all issues
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Sept 5 — The Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, today said Delhi was ready to discuss all issues, including Jammu and Kashmir, with Islamabad following "forward movement" between India and Pakistan in Durban.

Talking to mediapersons after his return to the Capital today from his week- long four-nation tour, the Prime Minister said that the modalities had been worked out for the resumption of the official-level dialogue between India and Pakistan.

"All questions, including Jammu and Kashmir, will be discussed at the bilaterally without third-party mediation", Mr Vajpayee said.

Mr Vajpayee said: "There was forward movement during discussions between the Indian and Pakistani delegations."

Sources said that the exact modalities and the format of the Indo-Pak dialogue would be announced after a meeting between Mr Vajpayee and his Pakistani counterpart, Mr Nawaz Sharif, in New York on September 23 when the two would go there to attend the UN General Assembly session.

India and Pakistan succeeded in breaking the deadlock in Durban after a series of meetings between the Foreign Secretary, Mr K. Raghunath, and his Pakistani counterpart, Mr Shamshad Ahmed.

Mr Vajpayee and the Minister of State for External Affairs, Ms Vasundhara Raje, also held separate meetings in Durban with the Pakistani Foreign Minister, Mr Sartaz Aziz.

On the South African President, Mr Nelson Mandela’s reference to Kashmir in his inaugural address to the NAM summit, Mr Vajpayee said: "After the expression of regret (by South Africa), the chapter is closed."

India had protested against Mr Mandela’s raising the Kashmir issue. Subsequently, the South African Deputy President, Mr Thabo Mbeki, who is tipped to be the next South African President after Mr Mandela’s retirement, had met Mr Vajpayee on Thursday and had "apologised" on his country’s behalf.

In his written statement too, Mr Vajpayee referred to the issue, saying that "NAM has a convention of not taking up bilateral issues. Since there was a departure from this, I had to forcefully make it clear that in the resolution of India-Pakistan disputes, there was no place for third party involvement".

Mr Vajpayee said that he had fruitful discussions with leaders of a number of friendly countries on the sidelines of the summit.

"I should refer, in particular, to my meetings with President Rabbani of Afghanistan and President Khatami of Iran. As is well-known, we are deeply concerned about the situation in Afghanistan, particularly the persistent outside interference in that country", the Prime Minister said.

"We also welcome the decision to hold an international conference to work out a nuclear-weapon convention for the elimination of all nuclear weapons within a time-bound framework", Mr Vajpayee said, adding that "a large number of countries shared our views on these important issues and on the need to rejuvenate NAM, while preserving its original outlook and objectives".

Referring to his visit to Mauritius, the Prime Minister said: "Though brief, my visit to Mauritius was a rewarding experience.

Mr Vajpayee said questions were being raised why India conducted the tests, but made it clear they were not directed against anyone. "We were victims of three aggressions in the past 50 years," he stressed.

There was no tension between India and Pakistan but "it seems others are worried about it", he said, adding the neighbours would settle their problems bilaterally.

Referring to economic ties between India and Mauritius, he said the island nation had become an important route for investment in India with Indian companies setting up joint ventures in diverse fields.

The Prime Minister said "Mauritius can be a gateway to Indian companies to enter Africa." Timely clearance of projects would give a new thrust to bilateral economic relations, he noted.

The two countries were already cooperating in various fields and there was scope for exploring new avenues, he said.

Mr Vajpayee spoke of long-standing cultural bonds between the two nations and thanked Mauritius for its support to India on various issues.

They are not serious on Kashmir: Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Sept 5 (PTI) — Pakistan today accused India of being "non-serious" to discuss the Kashmir issue, even as it said differences had narrowed down between Delhi and Islamabad over the resumption of bilateral talks.

Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz told reporters on his return after attending the NAM summit in Durban that "India is now willing to discuss the first two items of the agreed agenda — peace and security and Jammu and Kashmir issue — in a separate forum of Foreign Secretary-level and rest of the items in other fora."

"There is, however, certain amount of inconsistency in their stand as they (Indians) say the Simla Agreement is the framework (for discussions). The agreement accepts Kashmir as a disputed territory while at the same time the Indian Prime Minister (A.B. Vajpayee) announced that Kashmir is an integral part of India," he said.

Claiming that India was willing to discuss Kashmir "under pressure", Mr Aziz said: "But one does not detect a kind of seriousness with which the issue needs to be discussed."

Commenting on the resumption of the Indo-Pak bilateral talks, he said "gaps have been narrowed down after the meeting of the two foreign secretaries" (at Durban). I hope the modalities will be finalised when the two prime ministers meet in New York later this month."