20 December 2000

INDIA TO RESUME TALKS WITH PAK: CEASE-FIRE TILL JAN 26

From Jal Khambata

NEW DELHI: India will initiate steps to resume talks with Pakistan that remained shut since after the Kargil invasion. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee announced this in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday while extending the cease-fire vis-a-vis militants in Jammu and Kashmir by another month and said it would be further reviewed after the Republic Day.

The announcement by way of a suo moto motion was made to share with the House the government's assessment of the situation in Jammu and Kashmir and along the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan since after Vajpayee declared the ceasefire for the full fasting month of Ramzan.

The period of "no initiation of combat operations" is extended by another month taking into account decline in the terrorist violence in Jammu and Kashmir as well as the decline in the cross-border infiltration of terrorists, Vajpayee said while stressing that this "cross-LoC and cross-International Border infiltration" must cease entirely.

Stressing that India remains committed as the initiator of the dialogue process with Pakistan, Vajpayee said: "The existence of suitable environment for such a process is self-evidently necessary."

As part of India's continued commitment to the Shimla Agreement and the Lahore Declaration, he said: "The Government will initiate such exploratory steps as are considered necessary by it, so that the Composite Dialogue Process between the Governments of India and Pakistan could be resumed."

The Prime Minister, however, also ascertained that the Government's "unwavering commitment" to meet the challenge of terrorism remains undiluted. "Whereas we will continue to exercise maximum restraint in face of grave provocations, national interests will never be compromised," he said.

Without referring to the All-Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), the Prime Minister said the government was greatly heartened by the response of the citizens, political parties and other organisations as "the constituency for peace has expanded significantly."

Pointing out that activities of the organisations like Lashkar-e-Tayaaba and Harkat-ul Mujahideen continue "resulting in most unfortunate and regrettable loss of innocent civilian lives, also of the pesonnel of our security forces," Vajpayee re-affirmed the Government's firm resolve to combat these and other challenges and defeat "their inhuman and nefarious designs."

INFORMAL TALKS: The official level contacts have been already established between the Indian and Pakistan Governments, though they have not been officially announced since these contacts are only at informal level. At the next stage, initiation of formal contacts at the official level may now take place any time since after the Prime Minister's announcement and this may lead to re-establishment of the political contacts between the two governments that remain frozen since after Pakistan's invasion of Kargil.

As of now, the assessment in New Delhi is that Pakistan is moving in the right direction. However, before increasing the level of contacts, India would like to see Pakistan take concrete steps for stopping, funding and extending moral support to militancy in Jammu and Kashmir. Intelligence reports from across the border, however, suggest that Pakistan's military ruler Gen. Pervez Musharraf has still not been able to fully convince his military commanders to stop adding and abetting the militants.

PAK HOLDS BACK RESPONSE: In Islamabad, a foreign office spokesman said Pakistan will examine the fine print of Vajpayee's statement on cease-fire extension before giving its official response.

Foreign office spokesman Riaz Mohammad Khan said it was too early for Islamabad to say what its response would be and the announcement needed careful consideration. "We have to see this statement because usually the Indian statements have all kinds of conditionalities attached," he stated.

"Pakistan has put forward a comprehensive proposal to India for peace in the region and Islamabad is receiving replies in bits and parts," Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar told reporters In Islamabad on Tuesday. He, however, did not elaborate when asked if India had given any concrete response to Pakistan's proposals.

SAUDI MEDIATION?: Meanwhile, "The Voice of Valley", a newspaper published from Srinagar, claimed Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is said to have offered for mediation between Pakistan and India for resolution of over half century's old Jammu and Kashmir dispute.

The Kashmiri paper said senior Commanders of Hizb-ul Mujahideen from the Pak-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Jammu and Kashmir have reached Saudi Arabia to enter into talks aimed at resolution of the dispute and that Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh too was likely to visit the Kingdom.

The paper claimed diplomatic sources have confirmed mediation by Saudi Arabia for resolution of Kashmir dispute. Inquiries in Delhi, however, showed that nobody from the All-Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) has responded or gone to Jeddah on the appeal from Hizb chief commander Syed Salahuddin, though some men of his own outfit have reportedly sneaked out of India on his call.

JEHAD TO CONTINUE: Those carrying on the so-called "Jehad" (the religious freedom fight) continue to decry the Prime Minister's unilateral "cease-fire" in the Kashmir valley. In Lahore, Terikul Mujahideen Jammu Kashmir amir and Mutahida Jehad Council secretary-general Shaikh Jamilur Rahman declared that "jehad" would continue till the withdrawal of THE Indian forces from Jammu and Kashmir, implementation of UN resolutions and payment of war damages by the Indians. Talks were possible only after India accepts these demands, he affirmed.

He said that the mujahideen differed with political leaders of Kashmir in that the latter tackled the problem as a "traditional political issue", while they considered it as a "jehad" and the cease-fire was nothing but "a conspiracy devised by the US and the India." He said the mujahideen would not accept a political or ethnic solution to the Kashmir problem.  He said the mujahideen wanted Kashmir to be a part of Pakistan where Islam is enforced in its true spirit.

About Saudi Arabia's role in solving the problem, Shaikh said that they would accept a 'positive' role from any quarter. But there could be no compromise on the question of self-determination. Shaikh Jamil said the chief executive should give a call for jehad instead of considering the talks offer. END