'Gujarat Was An Unadulterated Act Of Terrorism'

Reaction to EU comments on Pakistan elections; EU has also criticized theconstitutional amendments..

I haven’t seen the text of the statement. We have seen a number of such comments issuedby people who have been in Pakistan, who have been observing the pre-election process and there is no doubt inanybody’s mind that Pakistan’s definition or  invention of "sustainable democracy" is a conceptthat is not recognized or shared by other countries and while we don’t comment on internal developments inPakistan, it is unfortunate that Pakistan seeks to present itself as the gold standard when it comes tocommenting on the fully free and fully fair election process in Jammu and Kashmir. So that’s all I wouldlike to say.  

General Musharraf has made a number of comments on Gujarat..

As I said earlier that we have seen gross interference in our internal affairs on thepart of Pakistan. Everybody all over the world has condemned this act of terrorism while Pakistan seems tospin its own theories and offer its own explanations for what happened. I think this is something we do notaccept and it is time Pakistan set its own house in order rather than seeking to pontificate on matters thatdo not concern it. What happened in Gujarat was an unadulterated act of terrorism from beginning to end.Innocent men, women and children were victims of that act and terrorism has to be condemned. You can’t havegood or bad terrorists. You can’t justify an act of terrorism. That’s very clear. I think it is clear toall of us. All of us, like minded people who are united in our understanding of what terrorism means and whatits consequences are. 

Is the Government of India concerned about the release of US $300 million by IMF toPakistan?

Answer: You want me to comment on everything that happens in Pakistan! We have alwaysspoken in favour of the welfare, the development of all people in this region. In the case of Pakistan on themajority of occasions that you have seen in the past, you have seen economic assistance that has gone to thatcountry being used for means which are not designed for the development of Pakistani people but are means basically aimed at intensifying conflicts in our region, raising tensions, and I mean specifically toPakistan’s military build up, to its acquisition of weapons and military capability that is basically aimedagainst India. That is where our concerns are magnified. As far as the assistance for the development of thePakistani people, for their health, for their education, economic development, the people of India, theGovernment of India has no opposition to that.  

What is the status on Abu Salem?

I will have to check. As I mentioned our CBI team is in Portugal and our External AffairsMinister has written to the Portuguese Foreign Minister. I know there was a question from your paper yesterdayabout a Portuguese news report saying that the Portuguese have responded to it.  I have no information tocorroborate that report