In his opening speech at the South Asian summit in Nepal Saturday, Pakistani leader Pervez Musharraf expressed hope for a “sincere friendship” between Pakistan and Inida, and then over to Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who rose and shook his hand with him.
“I extend a hand of genuine and sincere friendship to Prime Minister Vajpayee,” Musharraf had said from the podium. “Let us together commence a journey of peace, harmony and progress in South Asia”. Musharraf said his government “remains ready to engage in sustained dialogue with India at all times and all levels”, reported the Associated Press.
India's prime minister, who spoke after the Pakistani leader, made it clear that while he literally welcomed Pakistan's offer of "a hand of friendship", he demanded an intensified crackdown on anti-Indian militant groups.
In his own speech, Vajpayee accused Pakistan of answering India’s past “offers of friendship'” with aggression in the disputed province of Kashmir, the hijacking of an Indian airliner and last month's attack on India's Parliament. While the Prime Minster said he welcomed Musharraf's gesture, he insisted on the need for more action by Pakistan.
“Now, President Musharraf must follow the gesture by not permitting any activity in Pakistan or any territory in its control today which enables terrorists to perpetuate mindless violence in India," Vajpayee was quoted as saying by AP.
Vajpayee did not respond to Musharraf's call for dialogue. India has so far ruled out talks with Pakistan until it meets Indian demands to root out anti-Indian terror groups in its territory. Pakistan has taken several such measures in recent days, but India, while welcoming them, says they are not enough, and refuses to negotiate.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Indian and Pakistani troops continue to mass at the two nuclear-armed countries’ borders, exchanging occasional fire and keeping the world anxious that the two countries could indeed go into a full scale war for a fourth time in their history. (www.albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
