Airbases: Govt. criticised for 'unseemly haste'

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, SEPT. 27.

Though the Opposition appreciated the Government's initiative to convene a meeting today to evolve a national consensus on the looming Afghan crisis, the briefing was not without exchanges.

The first one occurred when the External Affairs Minister, Mr. Jaswant Singh, told the leaders that the U.S. did not need Indian airbases as it had a number of places from where it could operate. He was rebuked by Mr. A.B. Bardhan (CPI), who queried him on the ``unseemly haste'' shown by the Minister in unilaterally offering the use of Indian airbases. Later in his briefing, Mr. Jaswant Singh was criticised by the former External Affairs Minister, Mr. Natwar Singh, for describing the Non- aligned Movement as irrelevant.

Mr. Jaswant Singh also briefed the leaders about the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee's conversations with the U.S. President, Mr. George W. Bush, and the British Prime Minister, Mr. Tony Blair, and his contacts with his counterparts from Russia, Iran, France, Egypt and Pakistan.

The Home Minister, Mr. L.K. Advani, said that India could become the target of the Taliban once they were chased out of Afghanistan. The Government had information that the Taliban had chemical and biological weapons. Mr. Sinha said the economy would be hit by the global crisis. The FDI was dwindling and tourism and airlines had been hit hard.

The Congress was represented by Dr. Manmohan Singh, Mr. Madhavrao Scindia and Mr. Natwar Singh in the absence of the Leader of the Opposition, Ms. Sonia Gandhi, who was away in Amethi, her constituency. Emerging from the meeting, Mr. Natwar Singh expressed satisfaction at the outcome and said his party had asked the Government to take the lead in involving the non- aligned countries.

The Samajwadi Party chief, Mr. Mulayam Singh Yadav, drew the Government's attention to the feeling of insecurity among the minorities and the attempts being made to `communalise' the situation. He urged the Government to ignore the fulminations of the Shahi Imam as he had few takers within the Muslim community itself.

The CPI(M) general secretary, Mr. Harkishan Singh Surjeet, said his party had told the Government to work through the U.N. and NAM and ensure that communal harmony was maintained at all costs.

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