Musharraf greets Narayanan

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, AUG. 14. The Pakistan President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, today chose to be very matter of fact in his greeting to the President, Mr. K. R. Narayanan, on the eve of Independence Day. In contrast, the messages of Mr. Narayanan and the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, to Gen. Musharraf to coincide with Pakistan's Independence Day (celebrated today) stood out.

In his message, Gen. Musharraf said, ``Excellency, on behalf of the Government and people of Pakistan and on my own behalf, I have great pleasure to convey to you and the people of India our warm greetings on the occasion of the Independence Day of the Republic of India. Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration.''

Mr. Narayanan and Mr. Vajpayee's messages were loaded with political content, particularly in the context of the recent Agra summit.

Mr. Vajpayee referred to the resumption of the dialogue process between the two countries during Gen. Musharraf's recent visit to India, but talked about the Shimla and Lahore agreements as the framework for strengthening ties.

``India is committed to establishing a relationship of durable peace, friendship and cooperation with Pakistan, in accordance with the Shimla Agreement and the Lahore Declaration.''

The Prime Minister said, ``the Agra summit has revived the dialogue process between our two countries'' and that he looked forward to continuing the bilateral interactions.

Mr. Narayanan said India was firmly committed to the establishment of a relationship of peace, friendship and cooperation with Pakistan and shall continue to endeavour to achieve the goal. ``Your recent visit to India has contributed to a better awareness of respective viewpoints. This initiation of the dialogue process between our two countries will, I hope, contribute to the furthering of our bilateral relations'', the President said.

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Section  : International
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