'Pakistan Violated An Understanding'

June 20, 2005

Respected Vajpayeeji,

Thank you for your letter of June 15,2005. We are fully conscious of the issues raised in your letter. It is our endeavour to take the composite dialogue between India and Pakistan forward while ensuring that India's vital interests are fully safeguarded.

We have consistently held that the dialogue with Pakistan is predicated on its commitment to end cross border terrorism, as outlined in the Joint Statement of January 6, 2004. The centrality of this position was most recently reflected in the Joint Statement released after my meeting with President Musharraf.

I would like to emphasise that there is no room in our discussions - or in our actions - for ambiguity regarding our position on Jammu & Kashmir. I have reiterated on every possible occasion that there can be no redrawing of boundaries. We have also ruled out any role for a third party - either through interventions or as guarantor or as mediators - in any form.

With regard to the visit of the Hurriyat leaders to Pakistan, you are aware of the fact that in the last four or five years, these leaders have regularly met Pakistani dignitaries visiting India, as well as Pakistani diplomats. In this background, our Government felt that their visit to Pakistan could not do any harm. I may also add that their visit to Paksitan-occupied Kashmir using the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus was cleared on the basis of agreed procedures. That Pakistan decided to invite them to visit Islamabad and other cities in Pakistan violated an understanding on these procedures that had been reached between India and Pakistan. Passports were issued to those Hurriyat leaders, who did not possess Indian passports and made a request for the issue of such documents. It would not, therefore, be correct to state that the authorities on our side had mishandled the visit of the Hurriyat.

We have been consistently of the view that Jammu and Kashmir has a duly-elected Government which came into office after an election that was internationally held to be free and fair. We recognize that there are some groups that are outside the electoral process and the All Party Hurriyat Conference is one among such groups in Jammu and Kashmir. We are nevertheless willing to enter into a dialogue with such groups, provided they agree to abjure the path of violence. Nothing in our actions in the last twelve months has compromised our adherence to this principle.

With kind regards,

Yours sincerely,

(Manmohan Singh)

Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, MP
Former Prime Minister,
6-A, Krishna Menon Marg,
New Delhi - 110 011