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| Saturday, 3 January 2004 |
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Indian PM optimistic peace will one day prevail with Pakistan NEW DELHI, Friday (AFP) Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said he was optimistic India would eventually resolve its half-century dispute with Pakistan over Kashmir, as he prepared to head to Islamabad for a regional summit. "I remain optimistic about it," the 79-year-old Indian leader told India Today magazine when asked whether he would see lasting peace with Pakistan in his lifetime. But Vajpayee said there needed to be "a fundamental change in Pakistan's perspectives." "During my Lahore visit, I had clearly conveyed our desire for peace and friendship. Apparently, Pakistan did not believe us," Vajpayee said in the interview. Vajpayee made a historic bus trip to the Pakistani city of Lahore in 1999. It was followed within months by a conflict in the icy heights of Kargil in divided Kashmir between Indian troops and Pakistan-backed Islamic militants. "Until it (Pakistan) changes its perception about Jammu and Kashmir - that because it is a Muslim-majority state, it should be part of Pakistan - no meaningful discussions can take place on this matter." Vajpayee is due to make his first visit to Pakistan since the Lahore bus trip for a seven-nation South Asian summit in Islamabad starting Sunday. "Naturally, I will interact with our Pakistani hosts," Vajpayee said. Vajpayee also told the India Today that there was no threat of a nuclear conflict with Pakistan. "The only button I will press is of an electronic voting machine. It is madness even to contemplate nuclear war. Our nuclear weapons are meant to be a deterrent," said Vajpayee. Meanwhile US President George W. Bush said that India and Pakistan seemed to be resolving long-standing disputes "slowly but surely" and expressed confidence in Islamabad's efforts against extremists. "I commend the leaders of both countries for taking steps toward a peaceful reconciliation of major issues that have divided them," he said. "It looks like they're making progress towards reconciling differences, slowly but surely." "We're hopeful that the Indians' and Pakistanis' upcoming meetings will be able to begin a dialogue on a variety of issues," said Bush. Speaking to reporters after hunting quail near the Texas town of Falfurrias, Bush also said that he had spoken by telephone with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, who survived two assassination attempts in December. "Obviously terrorists are after him and he sounded very confident that his security forces would be able to deal with the threat," Bush said. "He sounded confident and therefore I feel confident about his security situation." In response to a reporter's question, Bush said he believed that Pakistan's nuclear weapons "are secure and that's important. It's also important that India as well have a secure nuclear weapons program." Meanwhile thousands of people gathered at a rally in Kashmir's main city demanding India and Pakistan open a key highway that linked the divided Himalayan region decades ago. Hours before the rally, organised by the state's ruling party, a suspected militant was killed when a bomb he was carrying on a bicycle exploded in Srinagar, the latest incident in a rebellion that has killed more than 40,000 people since 1989. The highway connecting Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir, and Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani Kashmir, was closed after the two countries fought their first war over the disputed region in 1947-48. New Delhi has proposed India and Pakistan reopen the road and launch a new bus service between the two Kashmiri capitals as the nuclear-armed rivals begin gradually to mend ties. "Reopen Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road, let brother meet his brother," more than 7,000 people shouted at the public rally in the heart of Srinagar, Indian Kashmir's summer capital. "Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road can bridge India Pakistan," read a banner carried by a group of families whose relatives live across the border in Pakistani Kashmir. The Srinagar-Muzaffarabad highway, the only motorable road linking Indian and Pakistani Kashmir, runs through breathtaking scenery along the Jhelum river and snow-capped mountains. Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Syed called on militants fighting Indian rule in the Muslim-majority state to give up violence. "When India and Pakistan are talking peace you cannot justify the presence of the gun... your sister, your mother, your children are waiting. Come home, give peace a chance," Syed said in a speech at the rally. |
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