The Hindu : EU team voices concern over minority killings

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 02, 2002

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EU team voices concern over minority killings

By Amit Baruah

NEW DELHI OCT. 1. A five-member delegation from the European Parliament, which met with the Prime Minister, A.B. Vajpayee, on Monday and the Defence Minister, George Fernandes, today, raised the issue of killings of minorities earlier this year with their interlocutors.

Neena Gill, member of the European Parliament from the United Kingdom, said that such incidents detracted from India's future given its secular character.

Addressing a press conference today with Ms. Gill, E. Baron Crespo, president, parliamentary group of the Party of European Socialists, said they had no doubts about the way the Election Commission conducted elections in India.

Responding to questions on the elections in Jammu and Kashmir, Mr. Crespo said it was not for them to put a "seal" on the polls taking place in the State. Expressing himself in support of the elections, Mr. Crespo said they had received information from different sources, including European diplomats, that it was a democratic process.

Praising the Election Commission, the member from Spain said the body had managed to modify the will of the Gujarat Government. "We have no doubts about their way of doing elections in India,'' he said, adding that the electoral process was up to the Indian institutions to handle.

On India-Pakistan tensions, Mr. Crespo said his delegation was worried about the situation. It was in favour of a solution through dialogue and negotiations and pointed to the European experience of resolving differences. On elections in Pakistan, Mr. Crespo said they had not received any guarantees about the safety and security of MPs who might want to travel to Pakistan for the elections. There had been several assassinations and it was difficult to send people to that country.

Asked about cross-border terrorism from Pakistan, he said terrorism was not "your" (Indian) problem, but was a global concern. "We are not looking at the problem from outside," he said, adding that they supported the Indian position.

On Iraq, he said there was a clear identity of views between his delegation and India. Calling for respect for the U.N. role, Mr. Crespo said there was need to have a new U.N. resolution. Iraq, he said, must let the arms inspectors back in, but "one, single country" could not decide on changing the dictatorial regime in Iraq — it was a matter that should be left to the Iraqi people to decide. Also, sanctions must be lifted if Iraq complied with the UN resolutions.

Referring to the upcoming Indo-European summit in Copenhagen, Mr. Crespo said there was a need to intensify and upgrade the relationship between India and the European Union. Specifically, he called for greater interaction between the European and Indian Parliaments.

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