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Pak's Hurriyat Invite May Harden Indian Stand

Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi

Pakistan High Commissioner Ashraf Jahangir Qazi's invitation to Hurriyat leaders to the tea-party on July 14 despite India's request not to invite them has made the government toughen its stance that will be reflected during the Vajpayee-Musharraf summit, a top ministry of external affairs official asserted on Monday.

"The (Pakistan) high commissioner's invitation to the Hurriyat leaders despite our request not to invite them is the final straw for us. We cannot keep making concessions while the other side thumbs its nose in defiance. Its adverse fallout cannot but spill over during the Agra summit," the official told rediff.com.

He indicated that 'forward movement in the summit could not be dependent on unilateral initiatives from our side' and that 'the spirit of reciprocity is the fuel which will generate momentum in the (Indo-Pak) talks'.

Referring to the Hurriyat leaders' acceptance of Qazi's invitation to his tea-party, the official contended that henceforth the government would 'get tough with them'.

"They have shown that they are quite willing to rupture the plate in which they eat. This cannot be tolerated. Now they will have to contend with our tough stand, which is putting it mildly," he pointed out.

Contending that the international community is avidly watching the impending summit between the Indian prime minister and the Pakistani president, the official maintained that Islamabad had not helped its case by 'defying the host country and preferring to risk its displeasure, to mollycoddle the Hurriyat leadership.'

He said that a section in the government had emphasized that 'a snub has to be countered with a snub' and this did not bode well for any positive fallout from the Vajpayee-Musharraf summit.

He also referred to the unanimous support Prime Minister Vajpayee had received at Monday's all-party meeting on the summit and underscored that the parties had virtually given him a 'blank cheque' to deal with the general in any manner he saw fit.

He said the prime minister had expressed his appreciation of all the parties being unanimous on their view regarding his impending talks with General Musharraf and extending their whole-hearted support on the issue.

He indicated that prime minister Vajpayee's meeting on Monday evening with the Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav was to apprise the latter of how the government intended to deal with 'prickly issues likely to figure in the summit.'

He indicated that Vajpayee would similarly meet Communist Party of India (Marxist) leaders on Tuesday and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and her senior party colleagues on July 12 to take them into confidence in this context.

Indo-Pak Summit 2001: The Complete Coverage

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