New Delhi, November 15
Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz will be meeting the entire leadership of the All-Party Hurriyat Conference during his 30-hour visit on November 23 and 24 and the Government of India has no problems.
Sources in the Pakistan High Commission told The Tribune this evening that leaders of all factions of the APHC had already been slotted in, resulting in a crammed itinerary of Mr Aziz who will have back-to-back engagements from the time of his arrival on the afternoon of November 23 and departure on November 24 evening.
When asked for his government’s stand on this ritual practised by every Pakistani leader visiting India, External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh told this correspondent in an exclusive conversation that New Delhi had “no problems”.
“Let him meet the Hurriyat leaders. It is another matter that they (Islamabad) should have realised by now what is actually the importance of the Hurriyat. So let them meet anyone. We will not stop them,” Mr Natwar Singh said.
New Delhi’s considered opinion on this issue is that the Pakistani leaders meet Hurriyat leaders here to cater to their own domestic constituency. The Pakistani journalists who recently visited Jammu and
Kashmir reported that the Hurriyat leaders were a divided lot and did not command much respect in the valley.
On the issue of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s announcement of reduction of troops in Jammu and Kashmir, Mr Natwar Singh said the Prime Minister himself had said that his move was “not an unacceptable risk”.
But the EAM pleaded ignorance about “technical matters” like whether the troop reduction process had already been put into motion and if so how much and from which sectors.
When asked by this correspondent whether Islamabad had formally sent the proposal which Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf had made in the form of a suggestion at an iftar party some weeks ago, Mr Natwar Singh said no such proposal had yet been received by the UPA government.
But he added: “May be Mr Aziz will bring it with him.”
Earlier in the day, Mr Natwar Singh told reporters that the atmosphere was conducive for talks between India and Pakistan, though he cautioned that miracles should not be expected during Mr Shaukat Aziz’s India visit. “We are giving it our best shot,” he added after flagging off the ‘Chalo ASEAN Car Rally’ here.
After flagging off the ASEAN car rally, Mr Natwar Singh said: “This car rally is the first major public manifestation of our partnership with ASEAN countries.”
Ten cars are participating in the ‘Chalo ASEAN’ rally which began from Shimla yesterday. Similar rallies are also being organised from Gandhinagar, Panaji and Kanyakumari. All the four rallies will culminate in Guwahati on November 21.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will flag off the 10-leg India-ASEAN car rally from Guwahati on November 22.
The rally will pass through all the ASEAN member countries — Myanmar, Thailand, Lao, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia — before concluding at Batam in Indonesia.
