November 18, 2004 ☼ Foreign Affairs
…and about time too. He took his time, but said it in the end.
“I have made it clear to President Musharraf that any redrawing of the international border is not acceptable to us. Any proposal which smacks of further division is not going to be acceptable to us,†the PM said at a crowded press conference in Srinagar on Wednesday.[IE & Related Editorial]
And he gives it to the charlatans too
“They (Hurriyat) should not put it as a precondition. We are not putting any preconditions, and we don’t expect any precondition from them,” Singh told reporters at a press conference at the end of the first day of two-day tour to Jammu and Kashmir.
He said the Government was willing to talk to anyone who had a point of view on Kashmir issue.
“We have duly elected representatives in Jammu and Kashmir but we realise that there are people outside the electoral process. Whoever is willing to talk to us, we are willing to talk to them,” he added.
Infering that the Hurriyat leaders have been meeting the Pakistani leaders, the Prime Minister said the Pakistan High Commission is regularly organising meetings whenever any dignitary visits this country.
“Moreover, in this age of internet and satellite phones, people can contact each other anywhere in the world,” he said.
Singh, however, said he had an open mind to the visit to Pakistan by any Indian citizen, if he is entitled to. [Daily Excelsior]
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