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No compromise on J&K, terrorism: PM

Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Thursday in an all-party meeting told leaders that he had honoured their request of not making concessions on Kashmir and cross-border terrorism in his talks with Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf at the aborted Agra summit.

The Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan, who briefed reporters on about the all-party meeting, disclosed this.

According to Mahajan, Vajpayee spoke for 20 minutes, briefing the leaders of his government's stand on the crucial Kashmir issue and cross-border terrorism, which he said was a big issue with India.

Vajpayee pointed out that while his government was willing to discuss Kashmir with General Musharraf, 'it cannot be a core issue and if Pakistan persisted with its refrain, India would really investigate the core issue, which was that Kashmir had acceded to India in 1947', said Mahajan.

According to Mahajan, Vajpayee said that while a joint statement may not have emerged from the Agra summit, it could not be termed as a failure because several positive threads had been picked up.

Mahajan also told reporters that Vajpayee clarified that his government had forwarded a structured agenda for the talks, but the Pakistani side had not responded initially.

Later, it said that the agenda would be fixed in Agra, but General Musharraf stuck to his insistence on Kashmir, which is why the Agra summit had to be aborted, Mahajan contended.

Vajpayee pointed out that it seemed that General Musharraf wanted to make Agra a propaganda platform to internationalise the Kashmir issue, continuously harping on it throughout the Agra summit, said Mahajan.

Vajpayee also said that Pakistan wanted to involve the Kashmiri people in the Indo-Pak talks to which his government did not agree because there could be no third-party involvement, added Mahajan.

The prime minister pointed out that despite General Musharraf's one-point agenda pertaining to Kashmir, the talks would continue.

Vajpayee told the general that since both India and Pakistan were nuclear powers, they should accordingly devise various confidence-building measures in order to prevent nuclear accidents, briefed Mahajan.

Vajpayee also said that his government rejected Pakistan's comparison of the Kashmir issue to the Palestinian problem, saying it was unjustified.

Mahajan said that Vajpayee took grave exception to the Pakistan president's harangue towards the Indian editors on the issue of Kashmir.

He also rejected General Musharraf's comparision of the Kargil conflict to the liberation of Bangladesh and underscored that thousands of Bangaldeshi refugees had poured into India in the aftermath of the 1971 Indo-Pak war.

Mahajan pointed out that the leaders of the political parties unanimously felt that the prime minister's briefing had clarified most of their doubts and that their general feeling was that the Agra summit was in the 'right direction'.

However, the Shiv Sena contended that India should desist from talking to Pakistan unless the cross-border terrorism was stopped, said Mahajan.

Also, the opposition leaders demanded that in future Indo-Pak talks should have a structured agenda so that the Agra experience is not be repeated, added Mahajan.

Mahajan also pointed out that some parties were critical of the government's media-management.

Mahajan said that the prime minister ended his meeting by saying that nobody should have the misconception that India lacked the resolve, stamina and the strength to combat cross-border terrorism which it would do with all the resources at its command.

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