|
BJP : No talks till Pakistan changes stand on terrorism |
 |
Earlier, the Bharatiya Janata Party had asked the Government to adopt a policy of ‘’progressive disengagement’’ with Pakistan even as it called for steps to prevent the ‘’ingress of Pakistani citizens into India’’. It had advised the government not to hold talks with President Musharraf till cross-border terrorism came to an end. This comes in the wake of the interactions between India and Pakistan at the just-concluded SAARC summit in Nepal.
But even as it adopted a hawkish line, the BJP said the government should take all possible diplomatic and non-military steps to make Pakistan stop cross-border terrorism.
Stressing that the Kathmandu summit had underlined the futility of persisting with the idea of SAARC when Pakistan ‘’repeatedly plays a negative role and prevents the implementation of economic and social projects for the development of the region”, a party spokesman said the government would be ‘’well-advised to strengthen bilateral ties and pay more attention to sub-regional cooperation until Pakistan changes its attitude’’. This change would be possible only after a truly democratic regime in Pakistan was able to dismantle the ISI-terrorist network. The BJP felt that the reiteration that the violence in Jammu and Kashmir was on account of the so-called freedom struggle was a further confirmation that Pakistan intended to carry on cross-border terrorism.
Congress to join diplomatic offensive
The Congress has agreed to participate in the all-party diplomatic initiative to build international opinion against Pak-sponsored terrorism. But for reasons of protocol, the party has decided to scale down its involvement in the national campaign. Following in-house consultations, in the light of Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s meeting with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the party leadership named Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairperson Najma Heptullah, R.L. Bhatia, Kapil Sibal and Mani Shankar Aiyar as its nominees on various delegations of MPs.
Sources said the party had refrained from including senior leaders Dr Manmohan Singh and Shivraj Patil for want of adequate information from the Government about the level on which the parliamentary delegations would be received in the countries of their destination. The four MPs chosen to represent the party were finalised by Sonia Gandhi after consultations with senior party leaders Arjun Singh, Manmohan Singh, Natwar Singh and S Jaipal Reddy.. The meeting was convened by her to discuss the issue afresh after the Prime Minister’s expression of regrets over ‘improper handling’ and premature leakage of composition of various teams by certain official quarters. The delegation led by Heptullah will tour Turkey, Saudi Arab, Kuwait and Sudan. Former Minister of State for External Affairs R.L. Bhatia will be a member of another team assigned to travel to Egypt, Jordan and Syria. Ex-IFS officer Mani Shankar Iyer will be part of the MPs’ team for the European Union headquarters in Brussels while Kapil Sibal will be part of the fourth delegation, which will visit South Africa, Nigeria and Senegal.
|
