International   

Terrorism must end for talks to succeed, says Sinha

LONDON MAY 26. The External Affairs Minister, Yashwant Sinha, has said that an end to cross-border terrorism by Islamabad was a precondition for the "successful outcome" of talks between India and Pakistan.

"If this (bringing terrorism to an end) was a precondition, then the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, would not have extended the `hand of friendship' to Pakistan last month," Mr. Sinha said in an interview to the British daily, the Financial Times, published today.

"India had relaxed its preconditions for holding a summit between Mr. Vajpayee and his Pakistani counterpart, Zafarullah Khan Jamali. But for the dialogue to succeed it is essential that cross-border terrorism comes to an end," he added.

The Minister's statement marks a major change in India's policy on resumption of stalled dialogue with Pakistan. Until now, New Delhi had insisted on ending cross-border militant strikes before talks for normalisation of relations with Islamabad could begin.

Mr. Sinha also offered to cooperate with Pakistan to monitor the infiltration of terrorists across the Line of Control (LoC). While Pakistan had proposed third party involvement for monitoring the LoC, India has maintained that it was a bilateral matter and that no third party should be involved.

"If there are elements which are outside their (Pakistan's) control and which are crossing the LoC despite their best efforts to stop them, then we should co-operate with each other to curb their activities," he said.

He, however, conceded that the rapprochement was moving at a slow pace. "This process should not be seen in terms of deadlines. Pakistan has not set a timeframe and India has not set a timeframe... We both need to give each other a chance," he said. The two nations would take slow but deliberate steps to "normalise" relations before holding a summit. This would include resumption of sporting ties, transport links and full diplomatic relations.

Ruling out U.S. mediation in talks with Pakistan, Mr. Sinha said: "Tackling cross-border terrorism is our responsibility and we will do it alone". He dismissed reports of differences within the BJP over a dialogue with Pakistan, saying that the party had lent its full support to the peace process. "To the best of my knowledge, the BJP and its spokesmen have lent their support to this peace process," he said. — UNI

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

International

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• `Groundwork needed for Indo-Pak. talks to resume'
• Terrorism must end for talks to succeed, says Sinha
• Pressure on Israeli right-wingers to quit
• Hu leaves on first foreign trip
• Iran denies holding senior Al-Qaeda members
• Police officer sacked for Ba'ath links
• Media meet vows to resist religious extremism
• `A dangerous area for the press'
• Narayanan praises role of Indian Americans
• `Indian domestic worker tortured'
• An invader from space?
• Blair under pressure to hold referendum on E.U. constitution
• Jakarta seeks Interpol help
• SDP has nothing much to cheer about?
• `Russia, China for cooperation with India'
• A record of sorts at Cannes

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu