Fernandes against removing troops from Kargil

NEW DELHI, JULY 8. The Samata Party leader, Mr. George Fernandes, today cautioned the Government against agreeing to any Pakistani proposal for withdrawal of troops from Kargil and Siachen, saying this would be ``very dangerous'' for the country.

``The Pakistan President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, may propose pulling back troops from these areas but the Indian Government should not agree,'' Mr. Fernandes told Aaj Tak. Recalling the Shimla pact, he said Pakistan had then spoken about developing a relation based on trust. ``But we didn't get any solution from it... There was no improvement in relations.''

He said the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee's Lahore initiative had helped the countries evolve a road map for improving ties but this had been belied with the Pakistani intrusions in Kargil. ``That is why any talk today of removing soldiers from Siachen or from any other areas would be very dangerous for our country.''

Welcoming Mr. Vajpayee's unilateral decision to release Pakistani fishermen in Indian custody as a goodwill gesture, he stressed, ``We have to move away from the dialogue of guns and start talks on other contentious issues. We should build friendly relations and try to find new avenues to further consolidate them.''On the Hurriyat issue, he said, ``What is in the mind of Gen. Musharraf and the Pakistani officials, nobody knows. Each day they say new things on the issue. I sometimes think they are trying to provoke us... But they also have problems in their country and we understand them. We don't want to anger them. I think we shouldn't be upset by it.''

- PTI

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