The Agra journey must continue, says Pak.

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, JULY 19. Expressing disappointment over India's decision to ``disavow the understandings'' reached between the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, and the Pakistan President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, at Agra, Islamabad tonight appealed to New Delhi to carry on the caravan of peace on the basis of the progress made at the just-concluded summit.

In a five-para statement, the Foreign Office sought to contest the Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesperson's claim that since no closure was reached on the text of the agreement, both sides would have to begin afresh on the basis of the existing agreements - the Lahore declaration and the Shimla agreement.

``We have moved forward at Agra and the journey should be continued,'' the Foreign Office statement said.

The Foreign Office's reaction to the decision of the Vajpayee Government to forget Agra as a ``bad dream'' is significant as Gen. Musharraf is scheduled to hold a press conference here tomorrow. Following the decision of the Government to liberally issue visas to Indian journalists to cover the event, 18 mediapersons from New Delhi have flown here.

The military establishment was taken aback at what it believes is the ``u-turn'' by India, particularly after the External Affairs Minister, Mr. Jaswant Singh, announced a day after the summit that India would pick up the threads from Gen. Musharraf's visit.

At a news conference here the same evening, the Foreign Minister, Mr. Abdul Sattar, echoed the same sentiments and even spelt out the broad nature of the understanding arrived at by both sides.

Speaking to The Hindu, a senior Pakistan Government official said, ``we are convinced that the u-turn by India on the Agra summit within 24 hours is a reflection of the deep divisions within the Vajpayee establishment on its approach towards making peace with Pakistan.'' The official wanted to know why India was harping only on the Shimla agreement and the Lahore declaration.

``Then why not refer to all the agreements, including the United Nations Resolutions. After all, it was India that took the issue of Kashmir to the U.N. So let us start from there. In my view, this attitude of India does not augur well for normalisation of ties.''

The Foreign Office statement claimed that the differences between the two countries at Agra pertained to only one para of the joint draft declaration and asserted that the two leaders had reached several understandings, which signified a ``substantial step forward'' in bilateral relations. It said Pakistan believed these understandings should be preserved and expanded in the interest of peace, security and development.

It hoped India would join in the effort to build on the foundation of these understandings.

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