M A I N   N E W S

War against terrorism
India, Kazakhstan join hands

Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Kazakhastan President Nursultan Nazarbayer watch as Indian Minister of State for External Affairs Omar Abdullah and Kazak Defence Minister Mukhtar Altynvaev put their signatures on an MoU on military and technical cooperation, in Almaty on Monday. — PTI photo

Almaty, June 3
In an obvious reference to Pakistan, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today asserted terrorism and religious extremism should not be allowed to flourish in Asia even as India and Kazakhstan set up a joint working group (JWG) to combat the menace.

The two countries also signed two agreements on cooperation in fields of defence and tourism in the presence of Mr Vajpayee and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev.

Mr Vajpayee, who held wide-ranging talks with Mr Nazarbaev at the President’s Palace here, told reporters here that the Kazakh leader “fully understood” India’s concerns and the tensions in South Asia created by cross-border terrorism.

“We have the same perspectives on firmly countering international terrorism. We have agreed to set up a JWG for cooperation against terrorism,” the Prime Minister said adding that the 16-nation security conference here would issue a declaration tomorrow condemning international terrorism.

Mr Vajpayee, who held 35-minutes of talks with Mr Nazarbaev without aides followed by delegation level parleys, said “our military technical cooperation should expand beyond a buyer-seller relationship into transfer of technology, research and development.”

The Prime Minister and the Kazakh leader identified four other major sectors comprising oil and gas, information technology, pharmaceuticals and small-scale industries for cooperation between the two countries.

Mr Vajpayee also voiced deep appreciation for Kazakhstan’s support for a permanent seat for India in the United Nations Security Council.

Later at a luncheon hosted by Mr Nazarbaev in Mr Vajpayee’s honour, the Prime Minister appealed to the crucial Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures (CICA) tomorrow to issue a strong warning to countries involved in sponsoring terrorism.

Meanwhile, National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra, who is accompanying Mr Vajpayee said India would not be persuaded to hold dialogue with Pakistan until President Pervez Musharraf implemented promises he made to the USA and other interlocuters to stop cross-border terrorism and said it wanted to avoid a conflict.

“President Musharraf must India’s strong concern over continuing cross-border terrorism sponsored by Pakistan to Mr Putin and Mr Jiang.

India, Mr Vajpayee said, had been grappling for years with terrorism backed by Pakistan which wanted to weaken the country’s socio-cultural fabric.

The Indian Prime Minister in his luncheon speech in Hindi, said the roots of terrorism were “deep and wide-spread” and unfortunately nation-states were also involved in sponsoring the menace.

Money generated from trade in narcotic drugs and illicit weapons by powerful cartels and certain countries were being used to sponsor terrorism, he asserted.

“Today there is a greater need for cooperation among countries as there is no corner in the world which is safe,” he said.

On Indo-Kazakh economic cooperation, the Prime Minister said New Delhi was prepared to make a major investment in the oil and gas sector in Kazakhstan which has 20 billion tonnes of oil reserves and has found fresh deposits in Caspian Sea basin.

The investment could be on the lines of that made by India in the Sakhali Oil Field in Russia, the Prime Minister said adding that feasibility of laying a pipeline from Kazakhstan to supply energy resources to India and other eastern countries should be explored.

On his talks with Mr Nazarbaev, Mr Vajpayee said India had agreed to promote joint ventures in information technology and would extend full support to the establishment of a software technology park about 30 km from here.

“We have also agreed to upgrade our cooperation in pharmaceutical sectors and in small-scale industries. Our agreement to promote tourism will enrich bilateral relations through closer people-to-people exchanges,” he said.

Observing that the presence of Ispat group in Kazakhstan was a “good beginning” for greater economic presence in this country, he said more and more Indian companies were setting up their representative offices in Kazakhstan.

Mr Vajpayee said the large business delegation from FICCI and CII accompanying him reflected the growing interest in forging closer links in the economic field.

Several hundred Indian students in Kazakhstan were also enhancing bilateral cultural relations, he said. PTI

Gandhi street in Almaty

Almaty, June 3
In a special gesture to India, Kazakhstan today renamed a street after Mahatama Gandhi at a function attended by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.

“Both Buddha and Gandhi were born in India. But they belong to the world”, Mr Vajpayee said. PTI