New Delhi, January 7
The rush of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s Pakistan visit over, it was time for the government today to take stock of the peace moves taken so far and the decisions to be taken in near future even as world leaders called up External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha to congratulate Mr Vajpayee’s initiative.
United States Secretary of State Colin Powell was ahead of British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, Japanese Foreign Minister Kawaguchi and European Union’s High Representative Javier Solana in calling up External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha to congratulate Mr Vajpayee.
Earlier in the day, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) met for about 80 minutes and is understood to have discussed in detail Mr Vajpayee’s just-concluded historic visit to Pakistan, where the bilateral peace process between the two countries got an impetus.
There was no statement or briefing from the government on the CCS meeting, which was attended, among others, by Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani, External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha, Defence Minister George Fernandes, and PM’s Principal Secretary and National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman K.C. Pant.
The Prime Minister is understood to have briefed the CCS about his Islamabad visit. Mr Brajesh Mishra’s meetings with unnamed Pakistani interlocutors during his five-day stay in Islamabad is believed to have come up for discussion.
Besides, Mr Mishra’s meeting with the chief of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Gen Ehsan-ul-Haq, and Mr Mishra’s categorical denial is also believed to have come up for discussion.
