Vajpayee Rules Out Third Party Intervention

A day before President Pervez Musharraf's arrival, Prime Minister Atal BihariVajpayee today asserted that India's position on Jammu and Kashmir stems from"the core principle of our nationhood" and rejected any third partyinvolvement in Indo-Pak dialogue.

Voicing the hope that the Pakistani ruler would bring to their summit meeting"a desire to bury the conflicts of the past", Vajpayee said he wasready to "frankly discuss" differences between the two countries onJammu and Kashmir and other issues.

The Prime Minister said in an interview that it was important for the twocountries to work towards dispelling the climate of mistrust and suspicion"which has bedevilled our relationship for so long". Asked about hisfeelings towards Gen. Musharraf  "who is widely perceived to be theman responsible for the Kargil war which cost us (India) so many preciouslives", Vajpayee replied, "No one can forget the bravery andsacrifices of our armed forces, who successfully vacated Pakistan's armedaggression and intrusion at Kargil."

"But", said the Prime Minister, "we have to move ahead to thefuture." "I hope President Musharraf will bring to the summit meetinga desire to bury the conflicts of the past and to build a new relationship oftrust," he said.

Commenting on Pakistan's stand that the Hurriyat Conference should beinvolved in the Indo-Pak discussions on Jammu and Kashmir, Vajpayee pointed outthat under the Simla Agreement and the Lahore Declaration "which are thecornerstones of our bilateral relations", India and Pakistan are committedto addressing all issues peacefully through bilateral dialogue.

"There is no question of any third party involvement in such adialogue," the Prime Minister said.

"As part of our efforts to restore peace and normalcy in the state ofJammu and Kashmir, we have initiated dialogue with all groups that abjureviolence, and individuals who are interested in peace. We remain committed tothis dialogue process," he said in reply to a question whether he forsaw astage when the representatives of the people of the state would participate inthe Indo-Pak dialogue.

Asked about Gen Musharraf's stand that the Kashmir issue should be addressedfirst and that the Agra summit should not get involved in "peripheralissues", the Prime Minister said, "no issue that contributes to theestablishment of peace, friendship and cooperation between India and Pakistancan be considered peripheral." India, he said, has never shied awayaddressing any issue including the issue of Jammu and Kashmir with Pakistan,peacefully through bilateral approches.

Asked what were his expectations from the Agra summit, the Prime Ministersaid "India has always endeavoured to build a relationship of peace,friendship and cooperation with Pakistan. All our initiatives in the pastincluding the composite dialogue initiated by India in 1998 and my visit toLahore in 1999 have been guided by this objective," he replied.

When asked how hopeful he was in narrowing down the sharp differences betweenthe two countries at Agra, Vajpayee said that it was his hope and desire thathis meeting with Gen Musharraf would contribute to the building of trust andconfidence.

Reacting to the Pakistan President's statement that both the countries shouldgo beyond their publicly declared stands on Kashmir and show flexibility, thePrime Minister said, "India's position on Jammu and Kashmir doesn't requireany reiteration, and stems from the core principles of our nationhood."

Was there a possibility of the Agra summit producing agreements on Siachenand measures to maintain peace along the Line of Control (LoC), Vajpayee wasasked. "India", he replied, "will do all it can to work towardspeace and stability along the LoC and the Actual Ground Position Line in Siachen.This would certainly be among the subjects I will discuss with PresidentMusharraf."

He concluded the interview with the hope that his meeting with the Pakistaniruler would contribute to the process of building a relationship of peace,friendship and cooperation with Pakistan.

PTI