Tuesday, 17 September 2002  
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India rejects dialogue with Pakistan

NEW YORK, Monday (Reuters) Indian Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha said on Sunday the United States must do more to pressure Pakistan to stop cross-border attacks by Muslim extremists and he rejected dialogue with Islamabad until the violence abates.

Days after President George W. Bush urged the leaders of the two South Asian nuclear rivals to directly address the root problems of their dispute, Sinha said ensuring Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf adheres to his promise to end cross-border attacks on India is "America's problem."

As for U.S. calls for dialogue, reiterated by Bush in meetings last week with Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee at the United Nations, Sinha argued in an interview with Reuters India is a "victim" of "cross border terrorism" and Islamabad is "holding a gun to its head."

"I think that anyone who is saying that there should be a dialogue is equating India and Pakistan at this point of time and it's not fair to India because India is the victim of cross border terrorism," he said.

"Any further progress toward dialogue or reconciliation can take place only after the gun has been removed. Therefore to talk about a dialogue when Pakistan is holding a gun to our head is neither practical nor fair," added Sinha, in New York for the annual opening of the U.N. General Assembly.

Sinha accused Pakistan of a "desperate" bid to disrupt the polls but said India was determined to have them go forward.

"If your neighbor is sending all those terrorists with the express purpose of disrupting the elections then more the reason why we should go through with the electoral process to show our commitment to democracy and our commitment to fight terrorism," he said.

"If Musharraf is not keeping his word it's an American problem because it was to the Americans that he had given his word, and I think nobody in America believes that he has kept his word," Sinha said in the interview.

The Americans have assured New Delhi "they have put enough pressure (on Musharraf) but I can't say it produced 100 percent results," the minister said.

However, echoing Vajpayee's U.N. speech, Sinha stressed that no one should doubt New Delhi's will or capacity to repel and "liquidate" the infiltrators.

HNB-Pathum Udanaya2002

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