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India rejects Musharraf's 'core' issue

India on Friday night rejected as 'totally not acceptable' Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf's claim that Jammu and Kashmir was a 'disputed territory' and asserted that the state is an integral part of the country.

Shortly after Musharraf's press conference in Islamabad, External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh told reporters outside prime minister's Race Course residence, "I take this opportunity to place clearly and categorically on record that (Pakistan's claim) the state of J&K is a disputed territory is totally not acceptable to us. It is not a disputed territory. It is an integral part of India."

Singh, who held consultations with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, expressed New Delhi's disappointment over Musharraf's remarks on cross-border terrorism.

"It is disappointing that in the face of daily killings of innocent men, women and children, terrorism encouraged and abetted from across the Line of Control and from across the borders is attempted to be explained away on some newly stretched arguments of legalism," he said.

The minister said, "I believe that this press conference (of Musharraf) better explains and people can now judge for themselves why it became so difficult to arrive at an agreed document and conclude that document at the Agra summit."

Pakistan's insistence that Kashmir be treated as a 'core' issue is unacceptable to New Delhi, said Singh.

"We continue to hold that the state of Jammu and Kashmir is at the core of Indian nationhood," he said.

PTI

Indo-Pak Summit 2001: The Complete Coverage

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