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Babus have sabotaged summit talks: Bhat

Onkar Singh in Delhi

The chairman of the Hurriyat Conference, Abdul Gani Bhat, blamed the babus of the two countries for playing spoil-sport at the Agra Summit between Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf.

He was commenting on the statement made by the Pakistani president late Sunday night in which he blamed the officials of the Ministry of External Affairs for trying to sabotage the talks.

"We have information that clearly says that the babus have done their work and managed to sabotage the talks. I would wait till the end of the day to see officials of which side played more dirty," Bhat told rediff.com Monday.

"Unless the two leaders throw a spinning ball, which the officials cannot handle and get bowled out, I do not see much hope in continuing the dialogue," he said.

Bhat pointed out that Musharraf, in his banquet speech, had made no reference to the Kashmir resolution adopted by the United Nations in 1949.

"He did not mention the UN resolution in his speech and he also said that Pakistan had no military solution to the problem of Jammu and Kashmir. But the Indian side did not respond to this gesture," Bhat charged.

"But I am still hopeful. I have been an optimist and I hope for the sake of Kashmir that something positive emerges from the talks," he added.

Indo-Pak Summit 2001: The Complete Coverage

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