At a press conference in Australia while leave for New Zealand on his wayback home, the external affairs Minister, Mr. Jaswant Singh said hisexpectations from the summit meeting were "realistic''and that he will"fix the agenda'' for the upcoming summit meeting between India andPakistan after he returns to New Delhi in consultation with the "visitors''.He also referred to possible pre-summit contacts with the "visitors''in the run-up to the meeting
President Musharraf
On India being the first to "recognise'' the presidency of Gen.Musharraf, he said, "We have never not recognised Pakistan. Pleaselet's be understood. Gen. Musharraf announced that he's President of his countryand it is not as if India had withdrawn recognition from Pakistan. We haven'tdone so ever. This is a matter of internal governance by Pakistan. Talks are totake place and we have simply offered our congratulations on his becomingPresident.''
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"I think the dialogue will go on as planned,'' he responded when askedif this will this have any bearing on the dialogue.
On Jammu and Kashmir
He said he did not think the Jammu and Kashmir issue was "affectingregional security'' in South Asia at the moment, in reply to a question. "Gen.Musharraf is visiting India shortly. Dates for it have been set. He is comingbetween (July) 14 and 16 and we'll address this (Kashmir) during his presence.''
Agenda
When asked if there would be anything else on the agenda, he said, "Well,I haven't been back to Delhi since the dates were announced. As soon as I goback I will fix the agenda... It will (have to be fixed) through consultationswith visitors.''
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"Why don't you let me get back to Delhi,'' he said when asked whetherthe agenda would be "open'' or "specific".
Will U.S. be provided military bases?
He said that Gen. Henry Shelton, a top-ranking U.S. military man, would visitIndia in July. "Military-to-military cooperation is one of the componentsof Indo-U.S. cooperation. Access to bases... you are moving far too fast yet.Let these things evolve over time.''
Does India count?
"There is a recognition of reality. This is not any aggressiveassertion. India is economically on the move. It is a nation of one billion. Itis a nation that stands for stability. It is non-aggressive in ideology orintent. There are great many elements that bring India and the U.S. together asthere are that bring India and Australia together. So, if... Dr. Rice has saidthat India counts, she's not referring only to our population,'' he replied whena reporter referred to the recent comments made by the U.S. National SecurityAdviser, Dr. Condoleeza Rice, that India now "counts''.
