New Delhi, October 16
BJP leader Yashwant Sinha today rejected Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf’s claim that his famous handshake with former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee at the Kathmandu Summit had the “desired effect” in Islamabad two years after the failed Agra Summit.
Mr Sinha, who was the Finance and Foreign Minister in the BJP-led NDA
coalition, reviewed General Musharraf’s book “In the Line of Fire” and wrote in “Kamal Sandesh”, a BJP- run fortnightly, that “he (President Musharraf) had come to Agra hoping to conquer India and to hustle the Prime Minister into accepting the unacceptable and had failed miserably.”
General Musharraf had found more than his match in Mr Vajpayee and he did not have his way even in Islamabad during the SAARC Summit in the first week of January, Mr Sinha claimed.
The former External Affairs Minister said the General’s “complete lack of understanding” of the Indian system of governance and his penchant for trying to upstage his interlocutor at every stage killed the Agra Summit.
Mr Sinha said the Pakistan President’s description of events at Agra was a “travesty of truth.” He further said the fact of the matter was that Mr Vajpayee did not discuss any draft with General Musharraf at Agra.
