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PM extends a `hand of alliance' to Pak.
By Harish Khare
NEW DELHI, DEC. 31. The Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, has extended a ``hand of alliance'' to the Pakistan leadership if it has sincerely joined the international community in its war against terrorism. If Pakistan has made a sincere U-turn, then the Prime Minister wants to tell the rulers in Islamabad: ``Shed your anti-India mentality and take effective steps to stop cross- border terrorism, and you will find India willing to walk more than half the distance to work closely with Pakistan to resolve, through dialogue, any issue, including the contentious issue of Jammu and Kashmir.''
These sentiments are expressed in a lengthy ``article'' written by the Prime Minister, on the lines of his much talked about ``Musings from Kumarakom'' this time around last year. This year, Mr. Vajpayee's advisers have released the ``article'' for the widest possible dissemination. The ``article'' is, once again, the preferred format to address and greet the people of India on the eve of the New Year.
Referring specifically to the intractability of the Kashmir problem, Mr. Vajpayee has chosen to reproduce the commitment he made last year: ``In our search for a lasting solution to the Kashmir problem, both in its external and internal dimensions, we shall not traverse solely on the beaten track of the past. Rather, we shall be bold and innovative designers of a future architecture of peace and prosperity for the entire South Asia region.''
Much of the ``article'' is devoted to the challenge of terrorism, at home and abroad. Inevitably, the December 13 attack on the Parliament House is mentioned, and is characterised as ``an attack on our sovereignty, on our national self-respect, and it was a challenge to our democratic system.''
The Prime Minister makes it clear that the only way to stop terrorist attacks is ``by forcing Pakistan to stop cross- border terrorism.'' Even while declaring that ``India does not want war,'' Mr. Vajpayee asserts India's right to ``defend ourselves against cross-border terrorism'' and warns that ``Pakistan will be solely responsible for the consequences of encouraging terrorism against India and, when expedient, turning a blind eye to terrorist groups with trans-national linkages operating from its soil.''
Addressing himself to the people of Pakistan as well as ``all the right-thinking persons in its ruling establishment,'' Mr. Vajpayee suggests to them to ponder over the consequences of pursuit of a strategy of hostility towards India and implemented through a policy of ``appeasement of terrorism fuelled by religious extremism.'' Mr. Vajpayee offers peace to Pakistan and suggests ``together, let us leave the past of futile hostilities behind us and embrace a future free of tension and full of mutually beneficial possibilities.''
Mr. Vajpayee ends with exhorting the countrymen to believe that ``we shall triumph against terrorism'' and ``let this be every Indian's New Year resolve.''
(See Opinion Section)
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