Kuala Lumpur, May 14
The Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, has informed his Malaysian counterpart M. Mohamad that no progress could be made on the Kashmir issue till Pakistan ceased aiding cross-border terrorism in India.

In an interaction with Dr Mahathir Mohamad here today, Mr Vajpayee emphasised that India was keen on extending the hand of friendship to Pakistan, but its gestures were not being reciprocated by the other side. He recalled that he had gone to Pakistan in the bus to Lahore two years ago in a bid to break the logjam which had blocked progress in relations between the two countries. “And what did we get in return? Kargil,” he said.

Mr Vajpayee’s plainspeaking in a Muslim country which at one stage favoured the resolution of the Kashmir issue in accordance with the UN resolution, is considered significant. Pakistan is known to have been trying to influence in its favour the Malaysian policy towards South Asia and Kashmir, in particular. But the Malaysian Government has been steadily backtracking on its earlier position on Kashmir and is now more sympathetic to the Indian stand. It has condemned terrorism and favoured the resolution of all disputes through peaceful means.

Much the same point was made by Mr Vajpayee in his speech at a banquet hosted today in his honour by the Malaysian Prime Minister. He emphasised that India and Malaysia shared a common cultural heritage that went back several millennia. In later centuries, traders from India played a major role in the spread of Islam in Malaysia. “For both of us, diversity is the signature of our nationhood. Yet, there is an inherent and essential unity in our multi-layered diversities. Both our national traditions abhor religious extremism and terrorism, which are a threat to a peaceful global order. India and Malaysia can share each other’s contemporary experiences in achieving economic progress while preserving our traditional family and social values”.

Mr Vajpayee said that he was impressed by Malaysia’s tremendous progress in infrastructure, which was visible everywhere: the beautiful Kuala Lumpur International Airport, the imposing Petronas Twin Towers, the network of expressways, the new administrative centre of Putrajaya, to mention just a few.

India admired the rapid growth of the Malaysian economy under challenging conditions. “We are also struck by its tremendous resilience, as shown by the speedy recovery from the recent South East Asian financial crisis. You surmounted this trying situation without dependence on external borrowings and without following policy prescriptions given by outside bodies. Your experience has a useful lesson for developing nations.”

The Prime Minister pointed out that India was among the 10 fastest growing economies in the world, and the fourth largest economy in purchasing power. The process of economic reforms, which were initiated a decade ago, had created many opportunities for trade, business and investment. He was happy to note that Malaysia was already India’s largest trading partner in ASEAN.

Mr Vajpayee, however, was of the view that in addition to traditional areas of cooperation like palm oil, they should tap the full potential in infrastructure development and newer knowledge-based technologies.“You can build more highways in India, and we can build more railways in Malaysia. We should try to maximise synergy between India’s software proficiency and Malaysia’s impressive manufacturing strengths in hardware. Sustainable progress in these knowledge-based enterprises depends on education and training of young men and women in large numbers. India would be happy to share its expertise in professional and technical education with your country for mutual benefit.”

The large population of the Malaysian Indian community constituted an important part of Malaysia’s multi-ethnic society. These people of Indian origin made Malaysia their permanent home generations ago. He was gratified to note that as loyal citizens of Malaysia, they had contributed significantly to Malaysia’s rapid and all-round growth.

Turning to globalisation, Mr Vajpayee said both India and Malaysia shared the perspective that globalisation must benefit, and not handicap, the developing countries, especially the poorest among them.