The Hindu : National : We must keep the ball rolling, Left tells Shaukat Aziz

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Thursday, Nov 25, 2004

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National

We must keep the ball rolling, Left tells Shaukat Aziz

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, NOV.24. The Pakistan Prime Minister, Shaukat Aziz, today held a meeting with the leaders of the Left parties seeking their view on the peace process between New Delhi and Islamabad.

During the half-an-hour meeting with Mr. Aziz, the Left leaders said the parties had always advocated the need for both India and Pakistan to continue dialogue. "We suggested that both sides must stop evaluating achievements of each visit and keep the ball rolling,'' the Communist Party of India (Marxist) Polit Bureau member, Sitaram Yechury, said. The All-India Forward Bloc general secretary, Debabrata Biswas, said they suggested that after each meeting, India and Pakistan should not expect much gain. Besides seeking the support of the Left parties on the ongoing dialogue process, Mr. Aziz evinced interest in the position the parties had taken on the issue of the recent price hike on petroleum products.

The reference got the CPI general secretary, A.B. Bardhan, draw a parallel of Mr. Aziz, the economist, with the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh. He told the visiting dignitary that it was politics and not purely economics. Mr. Aziz responded that Pakistan too had provided subsidy worth $39 billion. Mr. Aziz said that he would have detailed talks with Left leaders Mr. Surjeet and Mr. Bardhan, when they visited Pakistan next month. The two leaders are due to leave New Delhi for Lahore on December 1 and are scheduled to be there for a week.

The CPI national secretary, D. Raja, and the Revolutionary Socialist Party central committee member, Abani Roy, were among those who met Mr. Aziz.

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