M A I N   N E W S

Congress CMs’ memo to President
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, March 7 — A day after the mass rally in the Capital, the Congress stepped up its role as active Opposition with its MPs protesting against the recent price hike outside Parliament and five Chief Ministers of Congress-ruled States urging the President, Mr K.R. Narayanan to intervene on the RSS issue.

While the MPs, a majority of them from Punjab, staged a dharna on the steps of Parliament House in protest against the hike in prices of urea and fertilisers, the Chief Ministers submitted a joint memorandum to the President on the RSS and Bihar issues which came under attack from Congress President Sonia Gandhi at the rally yesterday.

The two-paged memorandum was signed by the Chief Ministers of Madhya Pradesh, Mr Digvijay Singh, Mr S.M. Krishna of Karnataka, Mrs Shiela Dikshit of Delhi, Mr Vilasrao Deshmukh of Maharashtra and Mr Ashok Gehlot of Rajasthan.

They urged the President to tell the Centre to direct the Gujarat Government to withdraw its controversial order, permitting civil servants to associate with the RSS which they said was “subversive of the democratic and secular principles of the Indian Constitution”.

The Gujarat Government order, the memorandum said, concerned the fundamental issue of governance which fell within the remit of the Centre and affected other state governments and the people of India.

They regretted that the Union Government had failed to intervene and advise the Gujarat Government to take back its order. They also referred to the statement by Union Home Minister L.K. Advani in the Rajya Sabha saying the Centre would not intervene on the issue.

The Chief Ministers said the civil service was not the “alter-ego” of any political party and its members were obligated and trained to serve the people of the country as and when required.

The civil servants, the memorandum said, were not “State-centric” nor were they representatives of the political party in power in any state, who were required to further the ideology or interests of that party.

They expressed regret that Mr Vajpayee and Mr Advani were “not able to distance themselves from the BJP and the RSS to which they belonged. It is obvious that they are willing to sacrifice the interests of the nation to the interests of the RSS.”

End N-plan,China asks India

BEIJING, March 7 (PTI) — Maintaining its tough stand China today asked India to renounce its nuclear weapons programme as the two countries concluded their first-ever security dialogue here.

New Delhi should implement in “real earnest” the u n security Council Resolution 1172 which asked both India and Pakistan to stop their nuclear weapons programme, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao told reporters on the conclusion of the two-day dialogue.

“As big countries in Asia, China and India bear important responsibilities for the maintenance of regional peace and stability,” Mr Zhu said.

Mr Zhu said the security dialogue between the two countries were “conducive for the enhancement of understanding, expanding consensus and promoting cooperation between the two sides”.

The Indian side at the talks was led by the External Affairs Ministry’s Joint Secretary in charge of disarmament affairs, Mr Rakesh Sood, and the Chinese side by Director-General of its Foreign Ministry Asian Department, Mr Zhang Jiuhuan.

Asked to comment on Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s recent comments that India would not renounce its nuclear deterrence, Mr Zhu reiterated the Chinese position on the South Asian nuclear tests of May 1998 by asking India to implement the u n security Council resolution.

Indian official sources acknowledged that differences existed in Sino-Indian relations, especially on the nuclear issue.

They said India used the meeting to explain its nuclear policy.

A senior diplomat said India clearly told China that the resolution violated India’s sovereign right to decide for its own security.

However, at the Foreign Ministry press conference, the Chinese spokesman declined to comment whether India and China discussed the South Asian nuclear issue during their security dialogue but said the two sides covered a wide range of issues concerning regional and international issues of common concern.

Meanwhile, India said the security dialogue went off well and remained focussed on regional and international issues of common concern.

The sources said “substantial progress” was being made in several areas of mutual interest including the establishment of a multipolar world, terrorism and promoting regional cooperation.

The two sides also exchanged views on the growing problem of cross-border terrorism, the sources said.

“We took the opportunity to bring to China’s notice the key role of Pakistan in abetting cross-border terrorism”.

Mr Sood, who is accompanied by Director (China) Sujan R. Chinoy, also met the Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Yan Wenchang here today, the sources said.