The Hindu : No pressure to resume talks with Pak., says Advani

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jan 03, 2003

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National

No pressure to resume talks with Pak., says Advani

Hazaribagh (Jharkhand) Jan. 2. The Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, said here today that there was no international pressure on India to initiate a dialogue with Pakistan.

``Some people say there is international pressure on us to go in for talks with Pakistan. But there is absolutely no pressure on India at all,'' he told a gathering. Mr. Advani, who laid the foundation stones for a dozen development projects worth Rs. 94 crores said, ``We have made it clear. We will not talk to Pakistan till it stops all forms of terrorism, including cross-border.''

``Any world leader who visits Pakistan asks it to stop terrorism.... but no international leader ever tells the same to India. Rather they ask India to fight against terrorism,'' he said.

Stating that Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, had given a new direction to India after the 1998 nuclear tests, Mr. Advani said, ``we belied the world's apprehension when Pakistan imposed Kargil on us.''

He said ``your wishes will be fulfilled'' when the gathering chanted ``Jay Shri Ram ...Ram mandir banayenge hum''.

He was speaking about his 1997 ``Swarna Jayanti rath yatra'', when the crowd began raising the slogans for the Ram Temple at Ayodhya.

Earlier, talking to reporters, he ruled out snap polls in the country, saying the NDA Government at the Centre was strong. ``The NDA is strong and stable. There is no reason to hold a mid-term election,'' he said.

The Centre was determined to fight terrorist activities in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Orissa and some other States, where the MCC and PW had let loose a reign of terror.

``The Centre cannot tolerate the activities of extremist organisations and will fully cooperate with the States to counter their activities,'' he said. The Centre had deployed para-military forces and was ready to supplement them to curb extremist activities in the States.

PTI

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