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| Friday, 1 4 November 2003 |
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Agra accord if not for change of clothes NEW DELHI, Thursday (AFP) If not for Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's sudden decision to change clothes to look good in the photographs prior to a joint declaration with India at the Agra Summit in 2001, things would have turned out differently, according to Pakistani Information Minister Sheikh Rashid. India and Pakistan had agreed on a joint declaration at the failed Agra summit in 2001 before New Delhi had a last-minute change of heart. Rashid said that if Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf had not gone to change his clothes, India wouldn't have changed their minds. "As I know the facts, President Musharraf went to his room only to change as both countries had agreed to the joint declaration... When he came back, the Indian mood had changed," Rashid said at a news conference. "I am not lying nor President Musharraf has the habit of lying... Mr. Musharraf had gone to change so that he looked good in the photographs... But next time, I think no Pakistani ruler will dare to change his clothes when such an important issue is taking place." Musharraf visited India in July 2001 at the invitation of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and the two leaders held prolonged talks at the Taj Mahal town of Agra. But no agreement was reached on the tricky Kashmir dispute, which is claimed by both countries, and Musharraf cut short his visit and flew back to Islamabad. It was speculated then in the media that Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani, who is number two in the government and a leader with a hawkish image, could have caused a change in the Indian position. To a comment that India, unlike Pakistan, was a democracy and even the Prime Minister Vajpayee needed to consult his cabinet colleagues, Rashid said: "(Atal Behari) Vajpayee is no kid and he knows what he is doing." |
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