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By B. Muralidhar Reddy
``It is old wine in new bottle. The position of Pakistan is we are ready for dialogue any time, anywhere and at any level without conditions. The Indian Prime Minister is putting the onus on Islamabad by repeating charges of infiltration and terrorist camps. We have already rejected these charges. So to that extent there is no forward movement though we welcome the change in the tone and tenor of Mr. Vajpayee," a senior official in the Pakistan Foreign Office told The Hindu. The official said that soon after Mr. Vajpayee's statement in Srinagar on Friday, there was a meeting in the Foreign Office to consider a response and it was felt prudent to wait for details on the nature of the Indian offer. "Going by the elaboration given by Mr. Vajpayee at his press conference today, we see no shift in the stance of New Delhi. Of course, we welcome talks but without conditionalities." A formal response from Pakistan to the Prime Minister's statement and comments he made at the press meet are expected later. However, the likely response was evident from a statement made by the Foreign Office to the reported comments made by Richard Hass, senior U.S. State Department official. It rejected the U.S. criticism that Pakistan had not done enough to control incursions into Kashmir. Islamabad had taken all possible preventive measures and no infiltration was taking place, the Foreign Office spokesman, Aziz Ahmed Khan, said. Mr. Khan maintained that Pakistan had repeatedly offered to allow the deployment of neutral observers to verify that no incursions were taking place across the Line of Control. Pakistan had also repeatedly called for a dialogue with India on the problem. "No positive response to these offers was received. The allegations are baseless," said Mr. Khan, calling on the international community to press India for a dialogue. Diplomatic and political observers here do note a change in the tone of India as reflected in Mr. Vajpayee's statements. The offer termed by Mr. Vajpayee as a ``new initiative'', diplomatic observers maintained, had to be seen against the backdrop of aggressive statements by some of his ministerial colleagues in recent weeks. However, Mr. Vajpayee's repeated stress on the need for the developing countries to learn from the Iraq example has intrigued observers. "It is not clear as to what the Indian Prime Minister was hinting at. Is he saying might is right? Is he saying the possession of weapons of mass destruction invites trouble? Or is Mr. Vajpayee endorsing the doctrine of pre-emption?'' asked a senior Pakistani politician. In a related development, Mr. Kasuri told BBC Radio from Riyadh that Pakistan would give a new date for the SAARC conference, which "will help lower temperature in South Asia." Pakistan had always been making efforts to resolve all outstanding issues with India through negotiations. "It was with this very end in view that President Pervez Musharraf went to Agra on the invitation of Prime Minister Vajpayee," he claimed. Mr. Kasuri said the visit of Gen. Musharraf was aimed at initiating some process of dialogue so that all outstanding disputes, including Kashmir, could be resolved. While objecting to a question regarding exchange of hard words between India and Pakistan, Mr. Kasuri said, "In the capacity as the Foreign Minister of Pakistan, I can say with responsibility that I did never use any wrong or filthy language.''
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