The Hindu : All-party meet authorises Jamali to respond 'appropriately'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, May 06, 2003

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All-party meet authorises Jamali to respond 'appropriately'

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD May 5. The all-party meeting convened by the Pakistan Prime Minister, Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, here today authorised him to respond `appropriately' to the Vajpayee peace initiative. A decision was arrived at after a three-and-half-hour-long meeting at Mr. Jamali's residence.

The Pakistan Information and Media Development Minister, Sheik Rashid Ahmed told The Hindu that ``Mr. Jamali has the backing of all parties on the strategy to be adopted in future talks with India''.

Earlier the meeting began on a positive note with a statement by Mr. Jamali, that the "ice has melted between India and Pakistan".

Talking to presspersons in Chakwal town in the Punjab province, hours before the meeting began, Mr. Jamali said efforts were under way to create a "congenial atmosphere" to begin talks between the two countries.

It is not clear if Mr. Jamali had in mind (when he used the expression congenial atmosphere) the desire expressed by the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, for a "proper groundwork" before starting a dialogue at the highest level.

The Pakistan Foreign Minister, Khurshid Mehmud Kasuri, told The Hindu that after the interaction with representatives of the political parties, Mr. Jamali would announce "measures to help normalisation" of relations with India. He declined to elaborate on the plea that it would be appropriate for Mr. Jamali to spell out the details.

Asked if it would address the two chief concerns of India — infiltration across the Line of Control and the existence of terrorist infrastructure — Mr. Kasuri said: "Please be rest assured that if Mr. Jamali could pick up the phone and talk to Mr. Vajpayee, obviously he has thought through the process. The Pakistan Government is committed to the process of normalisation of relations with India."

Mr. Jamali told correspondents that all issues would be settled with India on the negotiating table. He referred to the all-party meeting and said the aim was to take everyone into confidence on the coming talks on India. The Government wanted to start talks with India after taking the entire nation into confidence first.

Reflecting the general mood in the country, the Foreign Office described Mr. Vajpayee's letter to Mr. Jamali in response to the invitation to visit Islamabad as a "positive response". Its spokesman, Aziz Ahmed Khan at the regular briefing said, "Pakistan has received a positive response... I can't go into the details".

Reiterating Pakistan's position, he said, "we have always called for a composite dialogue, on all issues, including the core issue of Jammu and Kashmir". "Pakistan wants a meaningful and positive dialogue on all issues".

Regarding the "composite" dialogue, he said Pakistan had been calling for a dialogue to discuss all issues including the core Kashmir dispute. "It never meant exclusively discussing Kashmir".

He further elaborated that "composite means all issues, including the core issue of Jammu and Kashmir".

The earlier Foreign Secretary-level talks had identified eight different areas on which to start talks and these included Kashmir.

Mr. Khan said it was Pakistan's responsibility to positively respond to all the gestures made by India.

"We want to enter the dialogue process with a positive frame of mind. We are ready to hold talks with India at any place, anytime, anywhere at any level," he said.

Asked to comment on Mr. Vajpayee's statement that groundwork must precede the dialogue process, he said, "Pakistan will also make a careful analysis of the ground situation."

Pakistan wanted that the dialogue process started in earnest and was sustained. About opening up of the air space, he said, "all matters are under consideration".

To a question on reports of a CIA map about Kashmir, he said he had checked the website and found that it showed the area as "disputed territory".

Asked to comment on the statement by the Hurriyat leadership, he attributed it to some "misleading and tendentious reports".

Pakistan stood side by side its Kashmiri brethren and would continue to provide "moral, diplomatic and political" support to their just cause till the issue was resolved in accordance with the wishes of the people of Kashmir.

To a question on the "continued firing" from India across the LoC and heavy casualties in PoK, Mr. Khan hoped that the firing would stop soon. About the SAARC, he said the dates for holding the summit would be worked out and announced soon.

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