Friday, Sep 26, 2003
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India & World
By Sridhar Krishnaswami
"There is no Government patronage or anything that is happening across the Line of Control. And this is the guarantee that I gave to Prime Minister Vajpayee, and it should suffice. And therefore we need to start talking. Let us not make excuses for not talking on cross-border terrorism, because this is not mathematics; neither will he be able to prove," Gen. Musharraf said at a press conference at the United Nations. "I know the statements of your corps commanders... your Defence Minister as late as just these few months back, that there is a drastic reduction of whatever is happening on the Line of Control... So what more do you want? I think we should start talking. We should initiate the process of talking." He made the traditional comment that if some 700,000 Indian troops could not seal the border how could Pakistan with about one-tenth of the troop size do it. Gen. Musharraf was asked if there would be any meeting between him and Mr. Vajpayee during the SAARC summit to be held in Pakistan next January. "...I am not at all keen on meeting him. If he thinks that only keenness — I need to show keenness — and he is going to reject, I won't give him that pleasure. I am not interested. If he wants to meet me, I will welcome it," Gen. Musharraf responded. In brief opening remarks at the press conference, he talked about the "action plan" that he mentioned during his address to the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday morning. "We propose a composite plan to resolve all these disputes" that in his view would obviously include the "core dispute" of Kashmir. The "action plan" calls for a ceasefire on the LoC; Pakistan will facilitate a ceasefire in Kashmir with reciprocation from India "to stop atrocities or military action"; patrolling of the LoC by an enlarged United Nations force; and a restraint regime on conventional and unconventional arms. "So this is the action plan that I have proposed to India. The ball is entirely in their court," Gen. Musharraf said. He was asked about his expectations about the resumption of talks with India; and how it was that in New York he had not been able to "rub shoulders" with Mr. Vajpayee. "...whether India will come forward toward initiation of dialogue, that is the important thing...we must initiate this process of dialogue between India and Pakistan, a peaceful process of dialogue addressing in a competent manner all disputes bedevilling relations between India and Pakistan, the core being the dispute of Kashmir. That is what we require," Gen. Musharraf said. "... I am not at all interested in rubbing shoulders with anyone. And I am not disappointed... I am not at all concerned whether anyone wants to meet me or not... I totally reject anyone who doesn't want to meet me," he said.
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