The Hindu : Waiting for Pak. response to offer of friendship: PM

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Apr 20, 2003

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Waiting for Pak. response to offer of friendship: PM

By Shujaat Bukhari

The Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, addressing a press conference at Srinagar airport on Saturday. — Photo: Nissar Ahmad

SRINAGAR APRIL 19. The Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, today said he was waiting for a reply from Pakistan for his offer of friendship made at a public meeting yesterday. "They have welcomed my speech but have perhaps skipped another part of it in which the responsibility has been put on Pakistan as well. Talks cannot be one-sided," he said.

Addressing a crowded press conference at the concluding of his two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir, Mr. Vajpayee repeated the conditions for resuming talks with Pakistan and said that unless cross-border terrorism was stopped and training camps for militants dismantled, there could be no meaningful talks. `We want to tread the path of friendship but a lot depends on Pakistan's response. I reiterate that only talks can resolve all the issues."

Repeatedly referring to his desire for friendship with Pakistan, the Prime Minister gave the impression that he did not backtrack from his offer of talks. Terrorism, he said, could not be tolerated and only when it stopped could an atmosphere for talks be created. Talks could be held on all the issues including Kashmir, he said adding "let us make an honest effort in this direction".

Referring to the Nadimarg massacre of Kashmiri Pandits, he said he did not mention it deliberately during his speech at the Kashmir University convocation earlier in the day as "I did not want to fan passion" and added that he had neither forgotten Kargil nor Nadimarg but "I want to have a new beginning".

Iraq a warning for all

On the Iraq war, Mr. Vajpayee said it was a warning for the entire world, especially the developing world and those countries which were still caught in the cobwebs of poverty. "I will not elaborate on that but we have to see how long India and Pakistan will keep on fighting. The time has come for a new beginning to be made." To a question he said if Pakistan announced today that cross-border terrorism had been stopped, "I will send a senior official of (our) Foreign Ministry tomorrow to Islamabad to discuss the agenda for talks."

Mr. Vajpayee avoided a direct reply to a number of questions on talks with the Kashmiri separatists and said "(the) doors are open for all those who want to talk". The Centre's interlocutor, N. N. Vohra, would come to Kashmir with an invitation "and I can assure you that the situation has changed and a defining moment for Kashmir has come". He said the former interlocutor, K. C. Pant, had also invited the separatist All-Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) for talks but it did not respond positively.

The Prime Minister strongly supported the healing touch policy of the State Government led by the Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, but made it clear that it was not for militants. "It cannot be for those who are bent upon deepening the wounds," he said adding "there can be no other policy except the healing touch".

The Prime Minister announced that a committee would be set up to look into the problems of Kashmiri Pandits. Adequate security measures were being initiated for those who had stayed back in the Valley.

New employment package

By Our Special Correspondent

SRINAGAR, APRIL 19. In continuation of the economic package announced by him in May 2002, the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, today announced another package mainly dealing with the unemployment problem in Jammu and Kashmir.

Unemployment among the youth was one of the State's most pressing problems. "Therefore, we have decided to prepare a comprehensive plan to create at least one lakh employment and self-employment opportunities in the State in next two years," he said at a press conference adding that "for the purpose I have decided to set up a special task force comprising representatives of the Centre, the State Government, industry, commerce, banks and financial institutions. The task force will submit its report before June 30 and implementation will begin by August 15, 2003."

The sectors covered under the package are tourism, power, Information Technology, education and the Kashir channel of Doordarshan. Implementation of these plans will be monitored by the Prime Minister's Office.

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