'Pak. was fully prepared for summit'

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, AUG. 14. Pakistan today denied Indian allegations that it had not prepared for the Agra summit and termed the charges ``self-contradictory and against the spirit of diplomatic norms''.

In an informal chat with reporters here, the Foreign Secretary, Mr. Inam-ul-Haq, claimed Pakistan had been fully prepared. ``The fact is the other way round. It was the Indians who were not prepared and this was evident when they refused to sign the joint statement after having agreed to it.''

The military government is piqued over the spate of statements from New Delhi in recent days (including the reply of the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, in the Lok Sabha and the observations made by the External Affairs Minister, Mr. Jaswant Singh), and the remarks made by Mr. Haq could be construed as Islamabad's response.

Mr. Haq described the statement of Mr. Vajpayee that Gen. Musharraf was unaware of diplomatic norms as improper.

``Mr. Vajpayee has used such a term for a head of state which is an open violation of diplomatic norms.''

To a question, the Foreign Secretary said there was a possibility of a meeting between Gen. Musharraf and Mr. Vajpayee by year-end. ``No date has so far been fixed, but the foreign offices of both the countries have been working the details out.''

On the visit of the Indian Director-General of Military Operations (DGMO), Mr. Haq said a proposal was put forward by India for the visit but Pakistan was yet to decide on it.

Pakistan was ready to discuss confidence-building measures with India but settlement of the Kashmir issue was vital for the establishment of durable peace in the region, he added.

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