Bush speaks to PM, promises ban on JeM

By Neena Vyas

NEW DELHI, OCT. 7. Four hours before the American strikes against Afghanistan began, President George W. Bush of the U.S. spoke to Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, to inform him that military operations were imminent.

Speaking to him over telephone for about 10 minutes at 5.30 p.m., President Bush told Mr. Vajpayee that the U.S. Secretary of State, Gen. Colin Powell, would be visiting India in the early part of the third week of October, possibly around October 15.

Mr. Vajpayee is understood to have welcomed the proposed visit.

Apparently, a categorical assurance was given by President Bush that ``very shortly`` the Jaish-e-Mohammed, the terrorist organisation behind the recent attack on the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, would be put on the U.S. list of terrorist organisations. Officials at the Prime Minister's Office also confirmed that Mr. Bush unequivocally condemned terrorist strikes all over the world, wherever they occur, including Jammu and Kashmir.

The Indian Government here had not cared to hide the fact that it was peeved by the manner in which the so-called global coalition against terrorism had virtually ignored the harsh reality that Pakistan was a major sponsor of terrorism and hardly qualified to join the battle against it. The assurances given by Mr. Bush today are expected to go some way towards relieving the palpable tension in the Government here relating to the way the entire matter relating to global terrorism was going.

President Bush also referred to India's expressed concern relating to attacks on Indians, especially Sikhs. Mr Vajpayee was assured that steps had been taken to clear misunderstandings that followed the killing of one Sikh petrol pump owner in the U.S.

Meetings had been organised with Sikh representatives and efforts made to ensure that innocent people were not attacked. The Sikhs in the U.S. were reported to be satisfied with the steps taken. Apparently, some Americans mistook Sikhs to be Arabs or even followers of Osama bin Laden because of the turbans they wear. Propaganda on television and through other means has corrected this.

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