The Hindu : Pak. unhappy with Sinha's remarks

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Sep 17, 2003

International

International - India & World

Pak. unhappy with Sinha's remarks

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD SEPT. 16. The statement by the External Affairs Minister, Yashwant Sinha, that a visit to Islamabad in January by the Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, for the SAARC summit would not necessarily become the basis for a summit between Indian and Pakistani leaders has not gone down well here.

In a rare interview to Pakistan English daily, The News, Mr. Sinha has been quoted as saying that the time left between now and the summit in the first week of January is not sufficient for summit-level dialogue between India and Pakistan. He has hinted about the need for Pakistan to create a "conducive atmosphere" for resumption of stalled dialogue.

Coupled with the remarks of Mr. Sinha in the interview, the reported observations made by the Foreign Secretary, Kanwal Sibal, that there was no need for the Pakistan Foreign Minister, Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri, to hand over the invitation for the SAARC summit, have been interpreted here as a sure sign of the Vajpayee peace initiative not taking off.

The Pakistan Foreign Office is particularly taken aback by the remarks of Mr. Sibal that the dates and venue for the SAARC summit had been decided by the Foreign Secretaries and there was no need for the host country Foreign Minister to travel to SAARC countries to personally extend invitations.

"The remarks are not only in bad taste but also reflect the thinking in New Delhi on normalisation of ties. Leave alone moving towards the process of dialogue, we are not even on the track of restoration of ties as they prevailed prior to December 13, 2001 Parliament attack," a senior official in the Pakistan Foreign Office told The Hindu.

"This kind of behaviour is strange particularly after the Srinagar peace initiative of Mr. Vajpayee," the official said. Indications are that the Foreign Office might issue a strongly-worded statement on the subject.

In his interview to The News Mr. Sinha said: "I am bringing expectations down, because everyone thinks that if Mr. Vajpayee travels to Islamabad for SAARC, immediately summit level dialogue will take place between India

and Pakistan. The point remains that there must be adequate preparation for a summit-level meeting, and clearly I don't see enough time between now and the January summit of SAARC for such a summit to take place".

At the same time Mr. Sinha did not agree with the interviewer that peace process remains slow at pace. He maintained that "when you're dealing with relations between India and Pakistan, there is a need to be patient. I think impatience has spoiled things in the past, impatience may spoil things once again".

Though sharing his disappointment over what he claimed was Pakistan's reluctance to stop infiltration across the Line of Control, he said the peace process had found a large number of supporters in both countries, and hence would remain sustainable.

In reply to a question over expected opposition from hardliners in India where national elections are due next year, he said, "contrary to what might have been expected, the process initiated by Mr. Vajpayee has received very wide support in India as indeed it has in Pakistan".

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Pak. unhappy with Sinha's remarks