Search the Internet          Tips  Indo-Pak Summit

PM blames Pakistan for deadlock
in talks

Rejecting Pakistani claim that he and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf had come close to inking a draft document, he said "No draft came before us. It was discussed only at the delegation level."

Vajpayee, who met newspersons at Rashtrapati Bhavan, said the talks broke down because of Pakistan's adamant attitude against making any reference to cross-border terrorism in the document on the ground that it was a 'freedom struggle'.

Islamabad also insisted there could be no normalisation of bilateral relations till Kashmir issue was resolved.

In an apparent reference to the all-round attack on lack of groundwork before and media mismanagement during the summit with a section of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) gunning for External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh, Vajpayee said, "All decisions were taken unanimously. Singh had a special responsibility, but everything was done on the basis of collective responsibility."

He said if there were any shortcomings, then as leader of the Council of Ministers, "It was my responsibility."

PTI

Indo-Pak Summit 2001: The Complete Coverage

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report