M A I N   N E W S

Terrorism and talks cannot go together: PM
Smita Prakash

London, October 12
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee told British premier Tony Blair on Saturday that terrorism sponsored by Pakistan could not go hand in hand with the expectations that New Delhi would open a dialogue with Islamabad.

“The two do not go together,” Mr Vajpayee emphasised.

The Vajpayee-Blair meeting went off well with Mr Blair expressing full support for the recently-concluded elections in Jammu and Kashmir. Mr Vajpayee told him that India had lived up to its promise of conducting a free and fair election in Jammu and Kashmir but the part to ensure peace was in Pakistani hands and this Islamabad did not fulfil as the elections were hit by violence and bloodshed.

After the two Prime Ministers met, Indian Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha briefed newpersons, saying that no specific request had been made to the British side to bear influence on Pakistan to stop cross-border terrorism.” No such specific request was made,” said Mr Sinha. This is a marked change from the position that India had taken at EU where pressure was sought on Pakistan.

Mr Sinha dismissed the election in Pakistan as “farcical” and said the British Prime Minister was concerned that extremist elements had resurfaced in Pakistan. ANI

No pressure to hold talks with Pakistan
Smita Prakash

London, October 12
India today said it was not under any pressure from the international community to have a dialogue with Pakistan.

“I wouldn’t subscribe to the view about India coming under pressure. I don’t think a country of one billion people can be pressurised,” said External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Nirupama Rao, who is accompanying the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, on his three-nation tour in an interview with ANI TV.

She said, “I think the signal and the attitude and the position taken by India is very clear to all concerned. We have said very clearly that we are for dialogue, we are for peace, for the promotion of stability in the region.”

Ms Rao reiterated the Indian position that a dialogue could commence only after Pakistan stopped its support to cross-border terrorism.

“For any meaningful dialogue to commence, there has to be an end to cross-border terrorism, infiltration, and end to intimidation of our civilian population and an end to the bloodshed that we have faced, precisely because our neighbour has sought to promote this as an instrument of state policy,” she said.

She said this message had gone down very clearly in all countries that they had interacted with. The Britain is the last stop of Mr Vajpayee’s three-nation tour. ANI