No talk at any level, India tells Pak

No talk at any level, India tells Pak
JYOTI MALHOTRA

NEW DELHI, MARCH 31: India categorically rejected today any return to dialogue with Pakistan at any level, insisting that Islamabad must first end cross-border terrorism as well as stop ``vicious'' propaganda, such as calls for `jehad' against New Delhi.

Buoyed by the endorsement last week by US President Bill Clinton of India's position on the sanctity of the Line of Control, New Delhi today moved to emphasise and reiterate its post-Kargil pre-conditions on talks with Islamabad.

``The cessation of Pakistan's cross-border terrorism and the abandonment of its vicious propaganda are essential ingredients for any meaningful dialogue,'' the official spokesman of the Ministry of External Affairs said.

Simultaneously, in an effort to appear tough but gracious, the spokesman added that New Delhi, ``once again, calls upon Pakistan to look to the future, to the welfare of our peoples...(to) give up the path of conflict and senseless violence.''

Clearly emboldened by the continuing hostility of its own public opinion after Kargil -- as well as the US acknowledgement that Pakistan had become a major source of terrorism worldwide -- the Government also warned that Islamabad must not, however, take its policy of restraint for granted.

Referring to the Indian victory at Kargil, the spokesman said, ``We will effectively respond, as we have demonstrated in the past, to any threat to our territorial integrity.''

Today's elaborate statement not only dismisses outright the offer made on Thursday in Islamabad, by Pakistani Foreign Secretary Inam-ul Haq to India's High Commissioner to Pakistan, G Parthasarathy, but also indirectly puts paid to speculation that India and Pakistan could embark upon the path of sub-continental peace through joint ventures, such as the common exploitation of energy resources.

Sources here emphasised that if Islamabad restored faith by shutting down terrorist camps within and ordered an end to cross-border terrorism in Kashmir and elsewhere in India, ``the response will be immediately felt here.'' They insisted that any joint exploitation of resources could only come after Islamabad made ``appropriate gestures'' of goodwill.

Haq, on Thursday, had muted his talks offer with the insistence that Delhi make ``simultaneous'' and ``reciprocal'' steps -- such as, perhaps, reducing the number of troops in Kashmir -- so as to coax the talks along.

The Government's unambiguous response, reintroduces today the ``composite dialogue process'' as a condition to dialogue, a phrase by which New Delhi means that Kashmir can only be discussed along with seven other identified issues, such as Sir Creek and people-to-people contacts. Needless to say that this is a phrase Islamabad detests, since it wants Kashmir to be dealt with first, separately and above all other issues.

Clearly, Pakistan's offer, less than a week after Clinton warned Islamabad that Pakistan must stop redrawing ``borders with blood'' as well as first ``create the conditions'' for dialogue, is aimed at assuaging Washington.

Having been an ally of the US for 50 years, Islamabad is not relishing the possibility of being summarily dumped by Washington in favour of a country, India, that Clinton cannot stop waxing eloquent about even after his return home.

Sources here rejected speculation that the US was also simultaneously putting ``pressure'' on New Delhi to meet Pakistan half-way, saying that Clinton recognised and appreciated the Lahore effort made by PM Vajpayee last year.

JASWANT, SATTAR MEET UNLIKELY:India's rejection of talks today also puts paid to the possibility of a bilateral meeting between External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh and Pakistani Foreign Minister Abdus Sattar at the Non-Aligned foreign ministers' meeting in Cartagena, Colombia, next week, though an encounter on the margins of the NAM conference is not ruled out.

Indeed, neither PM Vajpayee nor Jaswant Singh are likely to meet their Pakistani counterparts at international fora over the next few months. HRD Minister Murli Manohar Joshi is likely to go for the South-South summit in Cuba in the middle of April, where Pakistan will be represented by Gen Musharraf. Sources also discounted the possibility of the PM meeting the Pakistani dictator on the margins of the UN General Assembly meeting in New York in September.