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Wednesday,
February 26, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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NAM states not interested
in Kashmir: PM
NAM SUMMIT DIARY Lawsuit on war dismissed |
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NAM states not interested in Kashmir: PM Kuala Lumpur, February 25 In another significant averment, Mr Vajpayee said India could not support the USA for waging a war against Iraq. On the question whether India would provide logistic or refuelling facilities for the American war machine if a war breaks out, he said India’s future strategy would depend on what course the events take. He conceded that had the Iraq issue not been in such prominence, the NAM summit would not have been such a roaring success. The Prime Minister rejected Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf’s attempts to equate Kashmir with Palestine, saying that the people of Kashmir had opted to live with India and Pakistani designs on Kashmir would never succeed. Mr Vajpayee ignored a question that if there was no handshake between him and General Musharraf did their eyes meet. Asked to react to General Musharraf’s remark yesterday that “you can’t clap with one hand,” he quipped: “If clapping does not take place, let there be a clanking of thumbs at least. Something or the other should keep happening.” Talking to reporters who accompanied him here from New Delhi for the 13th NAM summit, Mr Vajpayee said he had interacted with a large number of Heads of State during the summit and most of them told him that they were not interested in the Kashmir issue. In this context, he pointed out that Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad, who of late has emerged as a foremost leader of Islamic countries, clearly told him that Kuala Lumpur was least interested in the Kashmir issue. Alluding to the terrorism-friendly activities of North Korea and Pakistan, the Prime Minister said these two countries also came up for discussion yesterday. He said there could not be one set of rules for North Korea and another for Iraq and added that weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) should be destroyed wherever these are and should not be allowed to fall into the hands of terrorists. Mr Vajpayee was at his poetic best when he tried to explain how the NAM was even more relevant today than it was four decades ago when it was set up during the Cold War to avert another world war. He said NAM showed a ray of light in the otherwise dark scenario. He quoted a line from a poem of Harivanshrai Bachchan: “Andheri raat hai, deepak jalana kab mana hai” (It is a dark night. Who says no to lighting a lamp.) The press conference turned into an interactive session when Mr Vajpayee posed a question to journalists: why were there so many Heads of State at the 13th NAM summit and why there was so much scramble among them to attend this summit? Some journalists did offer their answers. This reporter tried to answer the Prime Minister’s query with a Dushyant Kumar couplet: “Badal dalo pani ye talaab ka, ab to kamal bhi kumlahne lagein hain” (Change the water of this pond because even lotuses have started withering). The Prime Minister laughed and said this was exactly the state of the world and this couplet summed up the relevance of NAM. |
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NAM SUMMIT DIARY
Kuala Lumpur, January 25 *** A record number of 66 Heads of State attended the 13th NAM summit. Never before in the more than four-decade history of NAM had so many Heads of State attended a summit meeting. However, if all heads of State of the 116-member NAM were to attend the summit, Mr Vajpayee would have to reach the venue more than an hour before the inaugural ceremony started yesterday. In the scenario of all 116 Heads of State attending the summit, Mr Vajpayee would have to start from his Oriental Mandarin hotel at 8.31 a.m. to reach the summit venue at the Putra World Trade Centre at 8.38 a.m. His next engagement was to start at 9.40 a.m. when all Heads of State were to assemble and proceed in a procession to their pre-designated seats.But because 50 Heads of State did not turn up, the leaders’ arrival schedule was revised and Mr Vajpayee arrived at the venue at 9.28 a.m. *** The Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) countries held an informal session on the sidelines of the NAM summit today. Fifty members of the 57-member OIC are also members of NAM. The meeting had a two-point agenda: Iraq and Palestine. *** First Ladies of NAM leaders yesterday held a roundtable dialogue of their own, parallel to that of their spouses, and unanimously called upon the international community to shun war. They appealed to governments to prevent armed conflicts and to devote more resources to building and sustaining peace. The dialogue on “Invest in peace: say no to war” was hosted by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad’s wife, Siti Hasmah Mohammed Ali. The First Ladies resolved that all solutions to conflicts should be made through the UN system. The dialogue was attended by 100 women, including 20 First Ladies and spouses of foreign ministers and envoys. *** Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee outlined five points in his speech which, he said, NAM should adopt as its guiding principles for its future development. The five points are as follows: (i) It should have a clear consensus on key issues of common concern to developing countries; (ii) it should not get involved in contentious bilateral problems between its member states; (iii) NAM should develop into a major pole in a multipolar world; (iv) South-South cooperation should become a major economic plank of the movement; and (v) all NAM countries should promote the values of democracy, human rights and multiculturalism. |
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Lawsuit on war dismissed Washington, February 25 Judge Joseph Tauro’s ruling yesterday denied the plaintiffs’ suit challenging the authority of the President to wage war against Iraq without a clear declaration of war by the US Congress. Representative Jim McDermott, lead plaintiff in the case of John Doe versus President George W. Bush and Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld, had argued that only Congress could declare a war. “There is no precedent for such an exercise of presidential power,” argued the plaintiffs, which included several parents whose sons were already in the Gulf, in court documents.
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Former human rights lawyer Roh Moo-hyun became South Korea’s ninth President today amid a deepening crisis over North Korea’s suspected nuclear ambitions and within hours after Pyongyang fired a missile out to sea. Roh was sworn in outside parliament in Seoul, then received a gun salute, reviewed a marchpast by troops in traditional costume and was serenaded by opera singers in front of a pond.
Reuters
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