Ms. Nirupama Rao (Official Spokesperson of Ministry of External Affairs): We welcome you to this afternoon's press conference with Rt. Hon. Mr. Jack Straw, Secretary of State forForeign and Commonwealth Affairs of the Government of the United Kingdom; and the Hon. Minister of ExternalAffairs of the Government of India, Shri Jaswant Singh. The two Ministers will make brief opening statements.Thereafter, they will take your questions.Thank you.
Shri Jaswant Singh: Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen of the press. Good afternoon.
It is my very great pleasure and honour to welcome again my friend and distinguished colleague, Rt. Hon. JackStraw. We have had, as always we have, a very candid, I believe, a very fruitful, wide-ranging discussion onbilateral issues; also on the current regional situation. We touched briefly the situation in Afghanistan. Wediscussed at some length India, Pakistan and the present situation. We also briefly discussed Jammu and Kashmir and alsoGujarat. I am very happy, as always, to have this opportunity to discuss issues with Jack, not simply in hispersonal capacity which of course I greatly admire, but also as a high representative of Her Majesty'sGovernment. I am very happy that we have had this chance. We will now, after you have grilled us, go and continue our work at lunch.Thank you for being here.
Mr. Jack Straw: Thank you very much, Jaswant.
Ladies and Gentlemen, it is a real honour for me to be back here in Delhi at the invitation of my good friendJaswant Singh, the Foreign Minister for the Government of India.
As Jaswant has indicated, we had a wide-ranging discussions. It included a brief discussion on a number ofbilateral issues, discussion on the issue of Gujarat which I have also discussed with Home Minister Advaniearlier today. Then obviously, the dominant subject of the discussion was the regional issue, and thepotential of conflict across the Line of Control between India and Pakistan, between Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan-administeredKashmir.
I reiterated what I said yesterday in Islamabad that the United Kingdom Government stands foursquare withcivilized Governments around the world, particularly with the Government of India, in our approach toterrorism. This is a matter which I have discussed at length with representatives of the Government of Indiasince I first became the Home Secretary, the Home Minister as you call the post, five years ago.