The Hindu : Front Page : Centre denies reports of Bush threat

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 18, 2006
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Centre denies reports of Bush threat

NEW DELHI: The Centre on Tuesday rubbished media reports which suggested that United States President George W. Bush had ``threatened'' Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday that India should not vote for Venezuela in the elections for non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.

``When two leaders speak to each other, they do not threaten each other,'' External Affairs Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna said while commenting on the news report that said Mr. Bush had issued the threat when he called up Dr. Singh on Monday evening.

Venezuelan Leftist President Hugo Chavez has been at the forefront of a campaign against the United States and President George W. Bush.

Mr. Sarna said the contents of the discussion between Dr. Singh and Mr. Bush had been made available.

No comment: Anand Sharma

Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma said: ``Am I expected to comment on speculative reports on matters which are related to foreign policy decisions? I will not make any comment.''

The Communist Party of India said India should not succumb to ``any intimidation'' by the U.S. and ``should take independent decisions as we are a sovereign country.''

The Government should tell the U.S. to ``mind its own business,'' CPI national secretary D. Raja told PTI while commenting on the news report.

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