'It Has Left The Country Very Confused'

The Agra Summit has left the country very confused. The hon. Prime Minister,the Government and the hon. Minister of External Affairs are not able to resolvethis dilemma as to whether this Summit was a success or whether it was afailure.

The Government has received all round support from all Opposition parties,especially, the Congress Party. We do hope that the Government will provide uswith some answers to numerous questions that are agitating our minds.

The Government has launched many initiatives but each time we have regressedinstead of going forward. Twice, the hon. Home Minister, with great fanfarelaunched what he called proactive initiatives in Jammu and Kashmir and theresult was an increase in militancy.

Government launches a dialogue on Jammu and Kashmir by releasing the HurriyatLeaders. One year later, Shri K.C. Pant, discovers that Hurriyat do notrepresent the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

When hon. Prime Minister, Shri Vajpayee took the bus to Lahore, we warned,"Take care before you leave or you may seriously damage the future". We werenot against the dialogue with Pakistan. We fully support it. The peace processmust go on at many levels.

In Lahore, we seemed to rush totally unprepared and we know that theconsequences were. We were told that the things had arrived at a turning pointin history. But the PM’s bus took a sharp downward turn and crashed down theslopes of Kargil. It was our Armed Forces who kept our honour intact.

One turning point led to another. But even as the Government rented andraided about cross-border terrorism, it sent our esteemed hon. Foreign Ministerto escort terrorists to their freedom in Kandhar. What an unprecedentedspectacle that was.

The proactive approach in Jammu and Kashmir which has been made proactive notonce but twice was suddenly jettison. The Government took an about turn toannounce a unilateral cease-fire in Jammu and Kashmir and then promptly wentinto a deep slumber treating the cease-fire almost as an end in itself of ameans to an end.

The cease-fire was suddenly called off. The pro-active action was resumedagain. The end of the cease-fire almost coincided with the invitation to GeneralMusharraf. We are now willing to talk to the military dictator who is stillsupporting terrorism. With this track record, we now approach Agra.

I can speak for everyone that we are extremely disappointed that Agra summitwas a failure. We wished you success. We were with you in spirit. But where weare disappointed with Agra as a failure, we are certainly not surprised that itwas a failure.

The Prime Minister, did not seem to be prepared for the journey that hadchose to embark on. The hon. Minister of External Affairs tell us that they didtell the Pakistanis that they want to send the delegation to discuss and thePakistanis were reluctant. Why did we rush into fixing the date? Why first aninvitation and then a preparation?

Broad drafts are agreed upon before leaders of two nations even shake handsbefore the camera. The desire for dialogue with Pakistan was right but yourimplementation was amateurish. What was the urgency to go into the summitwithout an agenda?

Was there pressure from other quarters? Was it to deflect from the dismalfailure of the cease-fire? Was it to divert attention from the disastrousresults in five State elections or was it Tehelka?

It is shocking that after one day of the Prime Minister’s deliberations, wehear Gen. Musharraf telling us that militants from across the border are notterrorists, but freedom fighters.

General Musharraf utilises the media instrument to a great effect. But whatwas the Indian position? What did the hon. Prime Minister and hon. ForeignMinister want from the Summit? It is difficult to know it.

I am not casting aspersions on the motivation of this Government. I havegreat respect for Shrimati Sushma Swaraj’s oratory eloquence but why was sheallowed to speak when it is an established practice that only the ExternalAffairs Minister or the Foreign Secretary or an authorised official are there tostate positions?

This was the deal-breaker for the General. So, we would like to know thetruth. We do not want to play politics in this. But explanations and answers arecertainly required.

General Musharraf was clearly sending signals in all his pronouncements thatsomeone in the Cabinet was sabotaging the Declaration. In his recent Pressconference in Islamabad, he indicated that the Summit has not failed because ofthem, because they were in agreement.

Shri Vajpayee himself in his statement says that we did achieve a degree ofunderstanding. It would mean that the centrality of the Jammu and Kashmir issuehad been agreed to and it would mean that our core issue of cross-borderterrorism had been relegated.

In fact, he is trying to say that they both had agreed – somebody else hadnot. Simla was the bedrock of bilateralism and Lahore was an extension. BothSimla and Lahore mentioned Jammu and Kashmir as just one of the issues. Gen.Musharraf’s main grouse was that he wanted Kashmir as the core issue.

Were they close to agreeing to elevate Kashmir as the prime issue with noreference to cross-border terrorism? Would this allow for a future Pakistanrejection of agreements arrived at Simla and Lahore? Let us know the areas ofagreement and the areas of disagreement. I am fully prepared to accept hon.Prime Minister’s word. Take the nation into confidence and build a consensus.

As far as the Summit is concerned, we lost before the summit during thesummit and after the Summit. Agra has pushed us back and not forward. Killingsare taking place as a direct result due to the hamhanded handling of thisGovernment.

I agree that great care should be taken before going to Pakistan. PrimeMinister should not go to Pakistan without defining the structured agenda andwithout being fully prepared. I urge him to build consensus on the approach thathe wishes to adopt, a consensus within and outside the Government.

He must articulate our view points with boldness and candour. We shouldput-forth our views on Jammu & Kashmir with conviction. It is an integralpart of India and there cannot be a compromise on this. This Pakistan's abetmentof cross border terrorism must stop.

Most important is the nuclear issue. He must raise this as one of the mostvital issues because two nuclear powers have a very heavy responsibility.Nuclear reduction measures must be put into place and they can be treatedindependently whether Government’s talks in the other matters succeed or fail.They should have a different track for this.

I would urge him to put in place a machinery which can meet from time totime, exchange views, exchange talk about safety measures and create a greatercomprehension, at least, on this particular issue.

The Congress Party will always support any genuine initiative thisGovernments wants to take for peace in Pakistan. There must be no repetition ofAgra because the cost of failure is too high and can imperil many preciouslives. Congress is prepared to support the Government’s in a well thought-outand strategised peace effort but such naïve and amateurish efforts cannot earnthem the respect or support from the country.