Monday, Jan 20, 2003
Monday, Jan 20, 2003 |
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By Our Staff Correspondent
The External Affairs Minister, Yashwant Sinha, said here today that India's ties with the United States were on the upswing and that Delhi was in constant touch with Washington for better understanding on a host of issues. While not commenting on the U.S. build-up in the Gulf region, Mr. Sinha stressed on the compliance of the U.N. resolution by Iraq and a peaceful resolution of the issue. He took the stand that military action was not a solution and said India did not favour external intervention in the internal affairs of any country. Talking to mediapersons, he said India did not favour the removal of the Iraqi President, Saddam Hussein. "It is not the responsibility of any country, however high or mighty, to interfere in another country's affairs." However, one could not oppose the military build-up in the region as most of the U.S. fleet was either in international waters or had been allowed permission by the respective countries. Ruling out talks with Islamabad till it put an end to trans-border terrorism, Mr. Sinha regretted that international pressure had not been effective in this respect thus far. Denying that Delhi's foreign policy was Pakistan-centric, he said the international community appreciated bilateral relations with India. In obvious appreciation of the mega-defence deal in the offing, he sought to place India's relations with Russia on a higher pedestal as compared to those with the U.S., stressing that the traditional ties with Moscow were being further reinforced. He maintained that friendship between India and Russia was progressing well and that the old bonds were being strengthened. He said that the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, might visit Moscow this year. He underlined that relations with China were now better as both countries were putting their best foot forward in resolving the border dispute. The process of exchanging maps was progressing well and Mr. Vajpayee was scheduled to visit Beijing later this year. On SAARC, Mr. Sinha said Pakistan's attitude was the biggest bottleneck in ushering in a free trade regime for better relations among the member countries. Pakistan was not in favour of such an arrangement and it had also not reciprocated India's gesture of bestowing the most favoured nation status on it.
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