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Curbs on Jehadi outfits?

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD April 28. Hours before the Pakistan Prime Minister, Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, picked up the phone to talk to his Indian counterpart, Atal Behari Vajpayee, and convey Pakistan's readiness to accept his ``hand of friendship'', Islamabad signalled its willingness to address one of India's major concerns — reckless activities of some of the `jehadi' outfits.

The Pakistan Interior Minister, Faisal Saleh Hayat, presided over a high-level inter-provincial law and order conference here. In some respects, the message from the conference was a repeat of the much-publicised January 12, 2002 address of the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf.

Mr. Hayat asserted that the writ of the state would be enforced and that no one would be allowed to use Pakistan's soil for hostile activities against any other country. Significantly, the Minister referred to the resurfacing of the banned militant outfits under new names and said the Government was determined to deal with them. It is possible that the conference was specifically held to equip Mr. Jamali with the necessary answers if Mr. Vajpayee raised any question on the banned militant outfits and their activities.

Observers here believe that the conversation, first since Mr. Jamali took office in November last year, would go a long way in normalising the strained ties between the two countries. Actually it was the first high-level contact between the two sides since the collapse of the Agra Summit in July 2001. It is indeed extraordinary that within the brief time a whole range of subjects was covered.

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