Pak. offer a PR exercise: Jaswant

By K. V. Krishnaswamy

CARTAGENA, APRIL 10. The External Affairs Minister, Mr. Jaswant Singh, made an intriguing comment this evening while discussing relations with Pakistan at a press conference he addressed towards the conclusion of the ministerial meeting here.

While showing no inclination to lower the hardline rhetoric against Pakistan that he has been displaying in the last few weeks, the Minister said in reply to persistent questions on the possibility and desirability of resuming discussions: ``Don't be impatient.''

The comment was accompanied by the suggestion that there was no occasion to jump to any conclusions, either. Positive or negative? He smiled away the question on the implication of his remark. Mr. Singh dismissed the Pakistani Chief Executive, General Pervez Musharraf's offer to talk ``anywhere and at any place'' as a pointless public relations exercise. ``The issue is not public relations. It is an issue of substance, of bilateral relations, of commitment.''

He said he did not want to get into a Lahore process after the series of events which followed the historic bus diplomacy of the Prime Minister, Mr. A. B. Vajpayee.

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