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A bad signal from Pak.: Sinha

By Our Diplomatic Correspondent

LONDON Oct. 11. The External Affairs Minister, Yashwant Sinha, told presspersons here this evening that the strong performance by fundamentalist parties in the elections from the Pakistani states of North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) and Balochistan was a ``bad signal''.

Asked to comment on the polls, Mr. Sinha said these fundamentalist parties had done well both in the National Assembly as well as provincial Assembly polls. He was referring to the Islamist alliance, comprising the JUI (F) and the Jamaat-i-Islami, among others.

In Mr. Sinha's view, this showed that despite his best efforts, the Pakistan President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, had not been able to control the fundamentalist forces in his country's polity. He said this development in the elections should be noted by the international community as well.

On the differences that marked the India-European Union summit yesterday in Copenhagen, he said the bilateral talks today with Denmark had gone off much better. There had been contacts after yesterday's press conference with the Danish Prime Minister, Anders Rasmussen, and both the EU and the Danish side were ``properly sensitised'' about India's concerns.

Mr. Sinha said he had had a long discussion with Mr. Rasmussen last night and explained the rationale for India's position. On the Prime Minister, A.B. Vajpayee's arrival in London today and his meeting with his British counterpart, Tony Blair, tomorrow, Mr. Sinha said Iraq would definitely be on the agenda.

For its part, India would impress upon Mr. Blair that successful elections had been held in Jammu & Kashmir despite the violence unleashed by Pakistan.

There would also be discussions on Indo-British bilateral issues, he added.

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