Tuesday, 3 December 2002 |
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Terrorism must end in Kashmir or no to SAARC summit - Indian PM NEW DELHI Monday (AFP) Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee warned he would not attend a regional South Asian summit in Pakistan next month unless cross-border militancy stops in Kashmir. "I can consider going to the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) summit early next year provided infiltration and cross-border terrorism stops completely in Kashmir," Vajpayee told a news conference in this northern Indian city. Vajpayee also said that bilateral issues should not be raised up at the regional summit. "Pakistan does not like to talk on any other issue other than Kashmir and Kashmir is not a SAARC issue and so there is no point in discussing Kashmir at the summit," the prime minister said. Vajpayee said India's attendance at the summit also hinged on the SAARC making tangible progress in regional economic cooperation. "Pakistan has not acted on the recommendations in this area agreed upon in previous SAARC meetings," the prime minister said. SAARC has sought to forge two regional trade pacts, the SAARC Preferential Trade Agreement and the SAARC Free Trade Agreement, but India-Pakistan differences have hampered progress. |
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