The Hindu : National : Manmohan makes light of Musharraf's criticism

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Nov 20, 2004

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National

Manmohan makes light of Musharraf's criticism

By Venkitesh Ramakrishnan

NEW DELHI, NOV. 19. India is not overly concerned about the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf's criticism of the recent "peace initiatives" taken by the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, in Jammu and Kashmir.

Dr. Singh himself indicated this while speaking to the media on the sidelines of the 9th Indira Gandhi conference "India: The Next Decade" here today.

'Most concrete prposal'

Responding to a query from The Hindu seeking his reaction to Gen. Musharraf's statement that Pakistan was "not encouraged" by the signals coming from India, Mr. Singh said: "All this has to be taken in our stride." He said he did not believe in responding to "every issue through the media," and added that "there are several channels to respond."

The Union Urban Development and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad, who also spoke to The Hindu , threw more light on the Indian Government's thinking. He pointed out that there was a general perception, including in Jammu and Kashmir, that the Prime Minister's initiative was the most concrete peace and development proposal to have been unravelled. "And hence," he added, "no amount of nitpicking can take away the merit or success potential of the proposals."

Gen. Musharraf has said in an AFP interview that "the vibes that are now coming [from India] do not encourage a process of normalisation." He also accused India of failing to show flexibility anddismissed the reduction of troops in Kashmir ordered by Dr. Singh as superficial

Dr. Singh's reaction to Gen. Musharraf's statements has a special significance in the context of the visit of the Pakistan Prime Minister, Shaukat Aziz, next week to New Delhi. Mr. Aziz is expected to discuss bilateral issues, including the recent measures in Kashmir. Highly-placed sources in the Union Government said that the most important message given by Dr. Singh's "take-it-in-our-stride" statement is that the talks will not be affected by Gen. Musharraf's uncompromising pronouncements.

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