'India's Position Is Not Absolutist'

External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh, addressing a crowded 90 minute pressconference -- his first after being given charge of the defence ministry two months back-- said India wanted Pakistan to "revert to the path of peace and cooperation."

He said poverty was "our common and real adversary" and the two governmentsowed to the people that they face this challenge "morally, economically andpolitically".

"India seeks friendship, reconciliation and cooperation with Pakistan," hesaid.

Asserting that Jammu and Kashmir is its integral part, he rejected Pakistan's demandfor a referendum in the state and ruled out any role for Hurriyat Conference in theVajpayee-Musharraf talks. "The whole of J&K is an integral component of India andthat stand remains unaltered. The question of referendum does not simply arise," hesaid.

He added that the government is a servant of parliament. And parliament has said thewhole of Jammu and Kashmir is an integral component of India and that stand remainsunaltered".

To a question why India was talking to Pakistan on Kashmir when New Delhi asserts thatthe state was an integral part of the country, he said under the eight-point compositedialogue process agreed upon by the two sides earlier, Kashmir was part of it.

He said the invitation was "explicit" in picking up the threads of the Simlaagreement and the Lahore declaration. 

Asked how the talks with Pakistan could be fruitful when India was asserting thatJ&K was its integral part, Singh said the two countries had agreed on compositedialogue process a few years ago. "We have no difficulty on talking on any issue. Wehave no hesitation in talking about J&K," he said.

On The Invitation to General Musharraf

On persistent queries whether a change had taken place in New Delhi's stand that itwould not talk to Pakistan till a conducive atmosphere was created, Singh said it isgovernment's assesment that such an atmosphere has been created taking into account the'totality' of the situation.

When pressed to elaborate on the basis for India's assessment that a conduciveatmosphere had been created for talks, he said there had been "significant andsubstantive fall" in exchange of fire along the line of control in Ladakh, Kashmirvalley and Jammu sectors. "This marked decline is a welcome development and we willcontinue to build on it", he said, dismissing newsmen's queries that Siachin sectorhad recently witnessed a flare up. 

The minister emphatically replied in the negative when asked whether the talks weretaking place under pressure from the US. "India does not permit itself to be used asan instrument by others. We pursue our policy in national interests," hecategorically said.

In reply to another question. Singh said India believed Pakistan had taken some stepsto create an atmosphere for talks. "India is very clear about long term relationswith Pakistan. It is for Pakistan (to say) what it really wants in long-term relationswith India,'' he said.

The minister hoped that the proposed Indo-Pak summit would bear some results. He said alot of official groundwork preparations would be made before Musharraf visits India.

Musharraf

On whether inviting Musharraf meant India giving legitimacy to the military regime,Singh said "the fact of the situation remains that he has come to office through amilitary coup".

Noting that Musharraf has been in office for a period of time, he said "we have todeal with the government of the day. It is our decision to deal with them".

Asked about the proposed date of Musharraf's visit to New Delhi, he said, "I amstill awaiting a formal response from Pakistan" but said it would be "a balanceof mutual convenience of calendars of both heads of governments".

Referring to India's invitation to Pakistan's military ruler General Pervez Musharraffor talks, Singh hoped that Islamabad would rise above the contentious issues.

Asked whether the Kargil ghost had stopped haunting the government, he said, "webelieve we have to move beyond the confines of history. Unless India and Pakistan addressthe challenges of tomorrow, we will be causing great damage to the peoples of the twocountries".

Singh parried a question whether the Pakistani leader would meet leaders of thehurriyat conference during his proposed visit here saying "General Musharraf iscoming to India at the invitation of the prime minister and to meet him. From where dothese additionalities are cropping up is beyond my comprehension".

Dismissing as a 'non-issue' the demand for involvement of the Hurriyat in the indo-paktalks on Kashmir, Singh said Pakistan's military ruler general Pervez Musharraf was cominghere at the invitation of Atal Bihari Vajpayee for summit-level parleys.

Asked to spell out India's bottomline on Kashmir, he said Islamabad has been constantlydefining its position but "we do not wish to enter into any contention with Pakistanbefore Musharraf's visit".

Singh said India was still awaiting a formal response from Pakistan to Vajpayee'sinvitation to Musharraf and his wife. Preparations for the summit began much before theinvitation was extended, he said. It would be a "balance of mutual convenience ofcalendars of both heads of governments".

These talks were being approached with "a sense of realism", he said, adding,"it is a long road to walk together".

He said Vajpayee's invitation to Musharraf had been "explicit" and he spokeabout picking up threads from the 1999 Lahore declaration as also the 1972 Simlaagreement.  

The minister clarified there was no change in government's stand on J&K."Government is a servant of parliament. And parliament has said the whole of J&Kis an integral component of India and that stand remains unaltered.

Singh said India was in favour of holding a SAARC meeting involving Pakistan and othercountries. The foreign secretaries of both the countries would be meeting under thisumbrella also

Asked whether return of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir would be taken up during the parleys,Singh gave a general response stating that all issues could come up during the talks."India's position is not absolutist," he said stressing there was need for"perseverance with patience". India has set up special monitoring devices onmajor stretches of line of control (loc) in Jammu and Kashmir to check infiltration fromacross the border and was also maintaining enhanced scrutiny of developments in Pakistanoccupied Kashmir (PoK) he said

Asserting that these were part of the new measures adopted to confront terrorist groupsin Kashmir, Singh said at the same time New Delhi wanted to further stabilisenon-confrontationist situation along the LOC.

Ceasefire

Asked about the reasons for calling off the ceasfire, Singh said the militant groupswere given six months to "scale back" and the government had hoped that thiswould result in militant groups reverting to the path of peace and joining the dialogueprocess.

"There was not sufficient response to this initiative", he said, and thegovernment now considers this phase to be over.

Replying to a question on the withdrawal of the ceasefire in J&K and a spurt inmilitant activities, Singh said "it is a fact of life that terrorism is beingencouraged and abetted by Pakistan."

On the centre's holding talks with Kashmiri groups, he said "we will continue tobuild on the achievements of the past six months and K.C. Pant  is now visiting thestate in this connection".

On Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba's objectionable remarks against India, he said it isa terrorist organisation and the security forces have "instructions to deal withit".

Singh said with the calling off of ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir security forces wouldintensify operations against terrorist groups especially targetting mercenary groups likeLashkar-e-Toiba.

"Less Cricket And More Gladiatorial Contests"

Replying to a question on the government's decision not to play cricket with Pakistan,Singh told reporters here the sports ministry had sought his ministry's advice on thematter and he had informed them  that the cricket matches between the two countrieswere "less cricket and moral gladiatorial contests"

Given the atmosphere prevailing, it was not advisable for extended cricket toursbilaterally of that nature, he said. With regard to other games, there were bilateralmatches in some disciplines including hockey and volleyball

On Foreign Relations

Stating that interaction between India and other countries especially during the pastthree months had "greatly enhanced", Singh said while the chairman of the USJoint Chief of Staff would be visiting for the first time later this week, he wouldhimself visit Moscow for the first meeting of the Indo-Russia commission on military andtechnical cooperation in the third week of June.

The minister said he would also visit Australia and New Zealand in the coming months.Describing the visit of Chinese leader and former premier Li Peng as "of greatsignificance", Singh said the government had also been interacting with leaders fromAfrica, Europe, Gulf countries, West Asia and South East Asia    

About next month's meeting of SAARC foreign secretaries in Colombo, he said there would'certainly' be a meeting on the sidelines between the Indian and Pakistani counterparts andthis could be one step in the direction of reviving SAARC summit. Singh also emphaticallyasserted that India's relations with the US or any other country was not hyphenated."India is not a tool to be used against one or the other", he told a Chinesecorrespondent who asked about the impact of growing Indo-US ties.

On whether India's reaction welcoming the proposed US Missile Defence Plan waspremature in the wake of reservations being expressed by US senators, Singh said New Delhihad supported the moves aimed at reduction of nuclear weapons and taking them away fromhair-trigger alert. India, he said, had all along supported steps towards freeing theglobe of nuclear weapons and had formally proposed it at the United Nations.

Replying to a question, he said "we have shared our view on the new securitysystem with Russia and China and I do not think India's views on this issue could any waybe termed as premature". He said the Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) system was apart of the new security frame work which had been supported by India. Singh said the newsecurity system signalled a departure from the approach of "confrontation"prevalent during the "cold war era" as it spoke of "evolving a securitysystem through dialogue which India has been insisting on". There was nothing new inthe system which the previous democrat president Bill Clinton also wanted to implement butdeferred it till the election of a new president of US, he said. "We believe in thetotality of the new security framework," he added.

Stating the spurt in violence in West Asia was uncalled for, he said New Delhi welcomedIsrael's decision against establishing more settlements. He said India would support anyinternational initiative aimed at ushering in lasting peace in West Asia. 

India, he said, would continue to oppose sanctions against Iraq as they were"counter productive". India did not support the sanctions against Iraq, he said,as it was badly affecting innocent men, women and children in that country, and added thatNew Delhi had already sought withdrawal of sanctions against Baghdad.

The minister said New Delhi was considering dates proposed by Bangladesh for bordertalks. He said after the 1974 agreement only 6.5 kms of border areas between the twocountries remained to be demarcated.

''We have received initmation from Bangladesh that they want to send a team so thatthis issue is discussed. The external affairs ministry is examining the issue'', he said. 

India and US military-to-military contact is expected to receive a further boost withthe first-ever visit of chairman of us joint chiefs of staff committee, General Henry HShelton, from May 31.  

Describing Shelton's visit as a significant development, he made it clear that therecent spate of bilateral military visits did not mean any move towards us arms sales toIndia. Replying to questions by a Chinese correspondent here, Singh said Indo-US ties werenot directed towards any third country. He hoped that such visits would lead to us liftingsanctions against India, which were proving counter-productive.    

He said during his talks in Moscow, the schedule for prime minister Vajpayee's visit toRussia would also figure.  

On Afghanistan and Taliban

He said India would provide"full shelter" to the Hindus and Sikhs of Afghanistan in casethey leave that country as a result of the recent Talibandecree against these minorities.

"India will certainly provide them full shelter,"he replied when asked whether New Delhi would give themshelter if they leave the country.

He said it would be unfortunate in case the Hindus, whowere living in Afghanistan, were forced out of that country.

Stating that the developments in Afghanistan had "deeplytroubled" not only India but the international community aswell, Singh said though New Delhi had not recognised theTaliban regime, it had made efforts to persuade the militia todesist from taking such steps against the minorities.

He said New Delhi had already accepted a large number ofAfghan nationals in India over many years.

To a question on the creation of Taliban by the Pakistanarmy, Singh said "what we are witnessing in Afghanistan todayparticularly the creation of Taliban was a terrible legacyof ending years of cold war between the then USSR and USA.Pakistan has played a most important role and the US had alsoplayed its role."

In this connection, the recently-passed UN resolution 1333, with the backing of Russia, US and India, had noted"the great damage caused to Afghanistan by Taliban. We believeit is a regressive force".

Gas Pipe Line WIth Iran

A joint working group oftechnical experts has been set up to decide whether Iran couldsupply gas to India through sea or land route.

Replying to questions at a press conference here, Singhsaid that Iran was a supplier and India was a buyer and "it isIran's obligation to deliver the gas."

He rejected the suggestion that the gas pipe project wasa "trilateral" issue and asserted that it was "bilateral."

In case of supply of gas through land route, pipe wouldpass through Afghanistan and Pakistan and the project would becostlier if the sea route is adopted.

On Defence Services

To another question, Singh said the process ofintegration of the defence services has commenced and that moves were afoot for integration of thethree services with the defence ministry within 90 days and toseek a political consensus for the creation of the post ofChief of Defence Staff (CDS).

Singh said the ministry of defence had brought out anextensive paper on modalities for the creation of the post ofCDS, integration of three services and setting up of a commondefence procurement board to which a special secretary hadalready been appointed.

Singh said a number of significant decisions have beentaken by the government in the last two to three monthsincluding the acceptance of the report given by the group of ministers (GOM) to integrate the Services Headquarters withthe Defence Ministry.

With this, he said the Services Headquarters would becomean integral part of the decision making process.

While refraining from commenting on whether the CDS wouldbe a four or five star general or whether the post would berotational, he said the proposed CDS wouldnot appropriate the operational and administrative control ofthe three service chiefs.

Singh said under the group of ministers proposalaccepted, the service chiefs would have enhanced powers ofdecision-making as well as greater decision on finances.

He said consultations with opposition parties on the CDS issue had not yet begun as prime minister Vajpayee was out of Delhi and government was looking at the convenience of opposition leaders.

Asked about the future role of the "attached officers",the minister said these officers were earlier receivinginformation on policy and used to abide by it.

Attached officers were not part of the policy makingprocess and from now on they would be participating in thepolicy formulation process, the defence minister said.

"How these officers would be placed exactly would be toopremature to comment now," he said.

He also said the government would make efforts to buildupon the stabilisation achieved all along the line of controlduring the last six months.

Asked if New Delhi was going ahead with its programme tobuild a nuclear submarine in the project labelled AdvancedTechnology Vessel (ATV), he said he was not aware of any suchproject.

Singh said the idea behind setting up a DefenceProcurement Board (DPB) was to step up arms purchases needed fornational security and to ensure that funds earmarked forpurchases could be utilised. He said asecretary has already been appointed but did not elaborate