Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jan 20, 2003

About Us
Contact Us
Front Page
News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Front Page Printer Friendly Page   Send this Article to a Friend

What does Islamabad want, asks PM

Port Blair Jan. 19. The Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, today denounced Pakistan for its "misbehaviour" with the Charge d' Affaires at Islamabad, Sudhir Vyas, and wondered if the neighbouring nation was averse to even maintaining the decorum of normal diplomatic behaviour.

"What does Pakistan want? Our envoy has been ill-treated in Islamabad today. His car was stopped and other obstacles were created in his way," Mr. Vajpayee said at a public meeting here. Reiterating that India wanted to normalise relations with Pakistan, he regretted that Islamabad was, however, not abandoning terrorism. "Tali ek haath se nahin bajti... Yadi Pakistan ka vyavhar theek nahin hota, hum apni suraksha ke liye poori tarah taiyar hain (You cannot clap with one hand. If there is no change in Pakistan's behaviour, we are fully prepared to safeguard our security)."

Lambasting Pakistan for its continued support to terrorists in Kashmir, he said explosives were hurled at a bus in Kashmir today in which 25 people were injured.

"What kind of independent war is Pakistan fighting in Kashmir where innocent people are being killed and women and children massacred?"

Urging Pakistan to exercise restraint, he said Indian forces were ready to meet any eventuality and defend the country. "We had positioned our forces on the border to ensure that Pakistan did not repeat the mistake of Kargil." — PTI

Our New Delhi Special Correspondent writes:

Reacting sharply to the harassment of Mr. Vyas, the Foreign Office spokesperson said, "We have received reports of the tailing and harassment of Mr. Vyas. This falls into a consistent pattern of harassment of Indian diplomats by Pakistani agencies and gross violation of the bilateral code of conduct as well as international norms and the Vienna Convention."

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription
Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | The Sportstar | Frontline | Home |

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu