The Hindu : Front Page : Dialogue with Pakistan will continue on all issues: Natwar Singh

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, May 30, 2004

Front Page

Front Page

Dialogue with Pakistan will continue on all issues: Natwar Singh

By Mohammed Iqbal

JAIPUR, MAY 29. The External Affairs Minister, Natwar Singh, said today that the Government would continue the dialogue process with Pakistan on all issues, including Jammu and Kashmir, and maintain friendly relations with it on the basis of the Shimla agreement.

``Both the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, and the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, are of the opinion that the dialogue should cover all aspects of our bilateral relations,'' Mr. Singh said, while emphasising that there would be no fundamental shift in New Delhi's foreign policy.

Addressing a felicitation function at the Pradesh Congress Committee headquarters here, Mr. Singh said the confidence-building measures with Pakistan would be ``intensified and broadened'' and guided by the Shimla agreement of 1972 and all subsequent pacts and declarations.

Mr. Singh indicated that Ms. Gandhi might visit Pakistan soon on an invitation extended recently by the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf. ``I hope Ms. Gandhi will go to Pakistan,'' he said and pointed out that when Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi went to Karachi recently to watch a cricket match between India and Pakistan, they were greeted by a 50,000-strong crowd.

``We have to see how Ms. Gandhi would be welcomed in Pakistan,'' he said.

On Gen. Musharraf's recent observation disputing Mr. Singh's assertion that the Shimla accord was the ``bedrock'' of bilateral ties, he urged the Pakistan President to ``consult his Foreign Minister.''

Mr. Singh accused the former Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, of shifting his stand vis-a-vis Pakistan as many as five times and said he had made a complete U-turn on several occasions. However, the Congress had supported the then NDA Government's policy of improving relations with Pakistan, he said.

``Our foreign policy has a distinct character of independence and national consensus. It was devised by none other than Jawaharlal Nehru and we have been following it since then,'' Mr. Singh said, while pointing out that the policy had laid stress on enlarging the areas of agreement and reducing the areas of disagreement.

Referring to the relations with the U.S., Mr. Singh said it was the biggest trade partner of India and home to several lakhs of Indian migrants. ``Even if there are some differences, there is no scope for any confrontation with the U.S.,'' he said. As for relations with China, the Panchseel accord will be the guiding spirit.

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