National

No drift in policy on Pakistan: Natwar Singh

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, DEC. 22. The External Affairs Minister, Natwar Singh, said today that there was no drift in India's Pakistan policy. He and his Pakistan counterpart, Riaz Khokhar, were scheduled to meet in Islamabad on December 27 and 28 to review the progress made in the composite dialogue between the two sides and the issues related to peace and security in Jammu and Kashmir.

Replying to a short duration discussion on India's foreign policy in the Rajya Sabha, Mr. Singh said the dialogue process with Pakistan was on track and the two countries continued to make progress. "Even modest progress is worthy of respect." There was no third party presence at the talks nor was there any likelihood of this in the future.

Arms supply

Mr. Singh said that India had conveyed its "deep concern" to the U.S. over the reported supply of sophisticated armaments to Pakistan. The Indian position was spelt out at the highest levels of the U.S. administration by the Defence Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, and by him to the U.S. Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, during his recent visit here.

In answer to criticism by the NDA, he recalled the U.S. promise of a $3-billion package to the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, which included $1.5-million worth armaments in June 2003. "Such an amount had to be for big arms not just to fight terrorism within Pakistan," he told Yashwant Singh (BJP), who said the U.S. had not specified the kind of arms that would be supplied.

Two messages

At the "landmark" meeting between the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, and Gen. Musharraf in September in New York, two important messages were conveyed. One, the importance of implementing the assurance contained in the January 6, 2004 Joint Statement that no territory under the control of Pakistan would be used for cross-border terrorism against India: and, second, that no solution to the issue of Jammu and Kashmir could involve a re-drawing of boundaries or another partition of India on the basis of religion.

"With regard to the Hurriyat, the people of J&K are represented by the Government which has been duly elected. The restoration of peace in the State is something that we are in constant communication with the elected government. However, we are also prepared to talk to those unelected individuals or groups, who shun violence and who are ready to contribute to the restoration of peace in the State. As to permitting the Hurriyat leaders to meet Pakistan officials, I do not think that we have inaugurated a new policy in this regard. President Musharraf himself met Hurriyat leaders during his visit for the Agra summit in July 2001."

Referring to the Russian President, Vladimir Putin's visit to India, he said it demonstrated the time-tested and strategic relationship between the two countries. He claimed that the UPA had given new dimension to India's "Look East Policy" through promotion of relations with ASEAN countries. The linkages and interests with West Asia and Gulf had provided for intensification of India's relations with all key countries in the region as well as the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Mr. Singh reiterated India's support to the Palestine people while maintaining friendly relations and cooperation with Israel.

He said that while a national consensus and continuity were valuable attributes of India's foreign policy, there were elements in the NDA's foreign policy and the manner in which it was implemented, with which we in the UPA did not agree. "For example, the former Government, in our judgment, neglected India's relations with other neighbours in its pre-occupation with Pakistan. We have corrected that."

Referring to his reported remarks in Seoul on India's nuclear policy, he advised members to go by the statements of the MEA spokesman or those made on the floor of Parliament. "The foreign policy of the UPA Government is made in the Ministry of External Affairs of the Government of India and not through the media. There will always be media reports that may seek to confuse the issue, or claim to quote someone within Government. I think we should ignore such reports."

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