Summit being held under pressure, says Mulayam

By K. Balchand

PATNA, JULY 5. The former Defence Minister and Samajwadi Party leader, Mr. Mulayam Singh Yadav, today said he was not for tripartite talks on Kashmir and expressed his concern over the fact that the Indo- Pakistan talks were ``being held under foreign pressure.''

Mr. Yadav, on a two-day visit to Bihar, said the talks between the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, and the Pakistan President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, were being held under ``external pressure,'' but did not refer to the U.S. directly. In the same breath, he said any attempt to hold tripartite talks on the Kashmir issue would not be acceptable to the Samajwadi Party.

While one foreign power had divided the country, another was now endeavouring to engineer peace between the two estranged neighbours, Mr. Yadav said. He, however, had no objection to the summit meeting between New Delhi and Islamabad. Friendship between the two countries was a necessity in the given international scenario. In fact, the Partition was a farce; India, Pakistan and Bangladesh could not remain separated and it was in their own interest to bury their differences and make peace.

While Mr. Yadav declined to comment on whether the talks would yield results, he said they would help in

confidence-building.

On the developments in Tamil Nadu, Mr. Yadav accused the BJP of ``vendetta'' and protested the recall of the former Governor, Ms. Fathima Beevi. His party was opposed to the imposition of President's rule in the State.

Charging that things were much worse in Uttar Pradesh where fundamental rights were being violated with impunity, Mr. Yadav said he had himself been arrested some time ago at midnight.

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