The Hindu : Front Page : Vajpayee for permanent peace with Pakistan

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Apr 15, 2004

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Front Page

Vajpayee for permanent peace with Pakistan

By Luv Puri

JAMMU, APRIL 14. The Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, said today that the peace process between India and Pakistan was on the right track.

Addressing a public rally here, Mr. Vajpayee said, "We want permanent peace. India and Pakistan are neighbours and have to live together. Weapons cannot solve problems between the two nations; cannon shells have now been replaced with cricket balls. The world is looking at us and both countries have to move forward. There is no way except peace and we have to try again and again. We have fought wars that did not resolve any problem. India is earnest in pursuing peace."

The Prime Minister said he saw a sea change in the attitude of the Pakistan establishment and termed the peace process "a new chapter between the two countries." Pakistan had made a commitment that it would not sponsor cross-border terrorism and "I term it a big development. Some people do not realise its importance." If the Pakistan leadership had agreed to this during the Agra summit, valuable time would not have been wasted, he said.

When he had gone to Lahore, there was speculation that the trip would not prove successful. It turned out to be true because when he was talking to his Pakistan counterpart, they were preparing for the Kargil aggression, he said.

Mr. Vajpayee said a new chapter had started between India and Pakistan and hoped it would continue uninterrupted. "I have always been stressing that every contentious issue should be resolved by a dialogue process. Fortunately, our neighbour has agreed to it and both nations are moving ahead. India has always supported peace but whenever there was aggression, it has always defended its integrity."

Indirectly referring to the All-Party Hurriyat Conference, he said, "They say that they believe in democracy but also add that they do not have faith in elections. From where will we hold separate elections for them? The democratic process is the same in every part of the country. Let the people elect their representatives in a peaceful and impartial way. We have displayed it in the past. The elections were free and fair in 1977 and thereafter, complaints started coming. But again those who asserted that elections could never be free in the State were proved wrong during the last Assembly elections. Democracy does not mean a mere transfer of power. It is a system that opens the door of progress and everybody becomes a partner. In the Lok Sabha polls, Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh will choose their representatives." Mr. Vajpayee said that there were some elements who believed in violence and were taking support from outside the country. They wanted to create a new future with outside support but they would not succeed. "Attacking election candidates like in the incident in Uri is no way to solve problems. "

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