Congress and others quibble over the government's U-turn and say there ought to be a consensus
Lambasting the Vajpayee government for its "flip-flop" policy on dealing with Islamabad and the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, Congress today demanded that opposition parties should be consulted before holding talks with Pakistan's military ruler gen Pervez Musharraf.
Describing as a "complete U-turn" government's decision to invite Musharraf for talks, senior party leader K. Natwar singh told reporters that the decision appeared "surprising" as the Vajpayee government till the other day was ruling out talks with Pakistan.
Singh, who is the chairman of AICC's external affairs department, said if the initiative had come six months back, many innocents would not have lost their lives in Jammu and Kashmir.
Referring to visits of several union ministers and NDA leaders to J&K in recent months including L.K. Advani, Jaswant Singh, George Fernandes and K.C.Pant, he said it appeared to be a case of "too many cooks". He also felt that government had "failed" to get the desired results from the six-month long ceasefire.
Stating that the way the government was taking such decisions showed that it does not know how to govern, and said it was necessary to have a national consensus before the talks.
He, however, welcomed the invitation to Musharraf as a "step in the right direction". He recalled that congress was consistently favouring dailogue with Islamabad.
Asked whether government had taken the decision under pressure from some country, Singh merely said "I certainly hope not".
He wanted the government to do its "proper home work" before holding talks with Musharraf and ensure that there was no third party intervention.
Replying to a question, he said it was imperative for the government to consult opposition parties before holding talks with Mushrarraf as national consensus was necessary.
Government, he said, should also ensure in the talks to strengthen bilateral trade and economic relations so that they become a "gateway" for ensuring durable peace.
Asked about the party's reaction on withdrawal of ceasefire, he said that invitation to Musharraf had "overtaken everything else".
To a query whether the importance of K.C. Pant, government's chief interlocutor on J&K would diminish in the wake of invitation to Musharraf, he said "let us see how the events unfold themselves".
He said the prime minister yesterday merely "informed" Sonia Gandhi about the decisions taken by the cabinet committee on security -- it was not to be mixed up with "consulted", he said.
Meanwhile the CPI-M politburo, in a statement said "declaration of ceasefire by India could not lead to any fruitful results in the absence of direct talks between the two countries".
It said this step will dispel the apprehensions that India was avoiding talks on outstanding issues as Musharraf had announced earlier that he was prepared to meet the Indian prime minister anywhere.
In another statement, the CPI central secretariat said "though delayed it was a positive step" to invite Musharraf but added that this should not mean cessation of efforts and dialogue with various forces in Kashmir.
It alleged that government had not taken the opposition into confidence on its Kashmir policy and asked the prime minister to consult opposition parties before evolving a consensus on a "comprehensive Kashmir policy".
However, the CPI expressed resentment over allowing brajesh mishra to continue as both national security adviser and principal secretary to the prime minister and said "propriety demands that he is removed from the pmo while many matters involving him should be put under investigation.