The Hindu : Come to the table: Pak.

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, May 21, 2002

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Come to the table: Pak.

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD May 20. The Musharraf Government has reiterated its call to New Delhi to come to the negotiating table for the resolution of all differences, even as it claimed to be prepared to meet any threat from across the border.

The Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman, Aziz Ahmed Khan, told a news conference here today that all issues should be resolved through bilateral talks. He said that this view had been endorsed by a number of countries, including the U.S. and Russia.

He was responding to a volley of questions from correspondents at the weekly news conference. Diplomatic and political observers here are intrigued over the `laidback' attitude of the Musharraf Government in the face of a series of actions taken by New Delhi in the last few days.

In what appears to be a message to the rest of the world in general, and India in particular, that it is business as usual for the Pakistan Government, an official press statement made it known that the President, Pervez Musharraf, presided over a meeting of the Privatisation Commission.

The Pakistan Information Minister, Nisar Memon, in an announcement said that Gen. Musharraf would hold consultations on Wednesday with leaders of political parties, editors and other opinion-makers on the situation arising out of the tension on the borders.

The same day, Gen. Musharraf would preside over a joint meeting of the federal Cabinet and the National Security Council to review the internal and external security environment and the preparedness of the forces to meet any contingency. Gen. Musharraf's decision to consult people from a ``cross-section of society'' appears to be a response to the demand at the All-Party Conference meeting in Lahore on Sunday for his resignation both as President and Chief of Army Staff.

The APC, attended by representatives of 29 parties, most of whom vehemently opposed the April 30 referendum, adopted a resolution pinning the blame for the current crisis on the Musharraf Government.

The APC appears to have endorsed the line taken by the former Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto, that `political change' in Pakistan was the need of the hour to de-escalate tension in the region.

The APC warned India against any aggression and expressed total solidarity with the Pakistan Army. However, it was of the view that the threats faced by Pakistan could be best faced with the formation of a `caretaker government' and appointment of a `full-time Army Chief'.

The Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman, however, sought to brush aside the APC deliberations as an ``internal matter'' of the country and maintained that the Musharraf regime had sought the co-operation of all elements when it was faced with threats from across the border.

Asked for his reaction to New Delhi's decision to place its paramilitary forces under the Army command, Mr. Khan said that it would not alter the situation on the ground.

``After all, the Indian forces are already mobilised on the borders and the paramilitary forces are there. There cannot be any further escalation.''

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