The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Wednesday, August 8, 2001,
Chandigarh, India

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Pak must stop terrorism for better ties: PM
Tribune News Service

Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee unveiling a painting "Transfer of Power" by V. S. Kulkarni at Parliament House annexe in New Delhi on Tuesday.
— PTI photo

New Delhi, August 7
While asserting in the Lok Sabha that no improvement in relations with Pakistan was possible till Islamabad stopped aiding and abetting cross-border terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today said talks with it would continue on the basis of the agreement reached at in Agra.

“The way innocent persons are being killed in terrorist activities, it cannot be called freedom struggle. They are blatant acts of terrorism. There cannot be any improvement in relations if these things continued,” Mr Vajpayee said during a special discussion on the Agra summit.

Hoping that Pakistan would review its stand on the issue and change its attitude, the Prime Minister said India had always wanted friendly relations with its neighbour.

“We are ready to have talks on Jammu and Kashmir. For you (Pakistan), it is a piece of land. But Kashmir is a part of our life,” Mr Vajpayee said.

In his 40-minute speech, the Prime Minister said the summit broke down because of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf’s insistence on having a one-point agenda of Kashmir and his refusal to incorporate references to cross-border terrorism and Simla and Lahore agreements in the draft joint document.

Mr Vajpayee said from the beginning, Pakistan had sought to occupy Kashmir by force and seeing it was not possible to do so, it had resorted to proxy war and encouraged terrorism. “But this will not succeed”, he said.

Mr Vajpayee said General Musharraf wanted to exclude Simla Agreement and Lahore Declaration from the final document in Agra so as to make a new beginning, but this was not acceptable to India.

Though he did not want to disclose the details of the one-to-one talks the two leaders had, the Prime Minister said the Pakistan leader showed no interest on any issue except Kashmir.

“The confidence building measures that were put forward by us were not acceptable to General Musharraf,” he said.

Stressing that Kashmir is not a simple issue, he said, “It is related with our emotions. We do not accept the principle of a two-nation theory on the basis of which Pakistan was created. Now that Pakistan is a reality, we wish it well”.

Mr Vajpayee, however, made no mention of the invitation extended to him by General Musharraf to visit Pakistan.

He declared that India and its armed forces were strong enough to counter any aggression or internal challenge and, therefore, no one should be under any illusion.

Mr Vajpayee said Pakistan’s strategy failed at Agra as it was based on the wrong premise that the Indian Armed forces had become tired of fighting militancy in the valley.

Stating that Lahore Declaration was an important milestone in bilateral relations, he said Islamabad had condemned terrorism in the joint document at Lahore .

Giving details of the Agra summit, the Prime Minister said when General Musharraf stuck to Kashmir as the only item on the agenda, I told him that “the talks won’t move.”

Mr Vajpayee said even now, India was ready for talks on Kashmir but Islamabad should stop encouraging cross-border terrorism which had assumed a “frightening form” as seen in the recent killings in Doda.

Referring to Pakistan’s demand of ascertaining the wishes of the people of Kashmir, the Prime Minister said no elections had been held in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) where a General is heading the government.

Mr Vajpayee did not agree with Deputy Leader of the Congress Madhavrao Scindia that the whole country, including the government, was confused about the outcome of the Agra summit, stating that these kind of remarks were not justified.

Terming the recent massacre in Doda district in J&K as a “naked demonstration of terrorism”, Mr Vajpayee said such heinous acts of killing civilians could under no circumstances be called ‘freedom struggle’ or ‘jehad’ (religious war).

The Prime Minister said during talks with the Pakistan President, he had raised the issue of one-third of Kashmir which was under illegal occupation of Pakistan, as also a portion of it which Islamabad had gifted to China.

“Under what authority did Pakistan give away that portion of occupied Kashmir to China?” he asked and referred to General Musharraf’s remarks that he would take back the portion from China once the Kashmir issue is resolved.

He was also critical of the propaganda in the Pakistani media that time had come for Kashmir to be part of that country and said probably General Musharraf got influenced by such talk.

Mr Vajpayee said Islamabad also failed to respond to the confidence building measures, including easing of visa restriction announced by New Delhi, in the run-up to the summit.

Referring to the reporting done by the electronic media during the summit, Mr Vajpayee conceded that it had an impact on public opinion.