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Sushma queered Vajpayee's pitch: Indian official

Tara Shankar Sahay in Agra

Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj's statement on Sunday hardened the Pakistani stand on Kashmir and caused it to insist no headway can be made without its tangible solution, a senior Indian official feels.

Swaraj told television channels the Vajpayee-Musharraf dialogue, including discussions on Indian POWs and nuclear confidence building measures, were progressing satisfactorily.

This seems to have caught the Pakistani side by surprise. They now question how a "responsible representative" could publicly reveal what had been discussed in strict confidentiality.

"Our guests have been perturbed by the minister's statement," a senior official, who requested anonymity, told rediff.com "They perceive an unfair advantage is being grabbed by our side when it was agreed that the two delegations will hold their horses until both give their stamp of approval to the final outcome of the summit."

However, another Indian official pointed out Swaraj could not have "breezed into" the venue of the official media briefing, the Mughal Sheraton hotel, unless she enjoyed tacit support within the government.

"The fact she first chose to speak to a popular television channel immediately after entering the hotel indicates it was not a spontaneous affair. Other channels pounced on the minister asking her to repeat her comments. Swaraj ignored journalists from the print media," a government official pointed out.

The television channels immediately aired the minister's comments until Pakistan took cognisance -- and hence its statement the dialogue could move forward only if New Delhi showed flexibility on Kashmir.

Meanwhile, another senior official said Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee accepting the Pakistan president's invitation to Islamabad indicated India's determination to move forward on bilateral relations.

"These are diplomatic wars of nerves between the two sides," he said. "We think a positive approach has been adopted by the two sides and they will be taken to their logical conclusion."

Indo-Pak Summit 2001: The Complete Coverage

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