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| Sunday, 25 April 2004 |
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Indian PM confident Pakistan will not let terrorists operate on its soil April 24, AFP, Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said Friday that he was confident that Pakistan would not allow terrorist groups to operate from its territory. Vajpayee told an election rally in India's commercial capital Bombay that the two South Asian neighbours had pledged themselves to warming ties. "Our neighbour is bound by the promise of friendship that it has with us now and that promise binds it to not supporting terrorism or terrorist groups on its soil," Vajpayee told the meeting. "This is a decision taken with Islamabad when the friendship initiative started and it is an important decision," he added. "We have succeeded in friendship with our neighbour and it is not based on any conditions, neither is it based on any deals. Even our neighbour felt we should be friends which is why the peace process is progressing." India and Pakistan decided to resume talks after a ground breaking meeting between Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf on January 6 in Islamabad on the sidelines of a regional summit. Following Vajpayee's meeting with Musharraf, senior officials of both sides met in mid-February for talks, which they said would continue in June. The often-hostile neighbours' possession of nuclear arsenals has made South Asia one of the world's most feared potential nuclear flashpoints. Many observers believed the subcontinent was on the verge of a nuclear conflict when the two sides came close to their fourth war two years ago over the disputed territory of Kashmir. Vajpayee also played down his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s hardline Hindu image and sought to build bridges with India's Muslim community as part of a drive to pitch itself as a mainstream party. "We want to carry Muslims with us," said Vajpayee. "Everyone has the right to stay here but there are certain responsibilities that go with it. Muslims have to have an open mind in discussions and I can assure everyone that we are not looking at them with any kind of suspicion." The BJP rode to political centre-stage in the late 1980s on a Hindu revivalist platform. In 2002, India's main opposition Congress Party and human rights groups said the BJP government in western Gujarat state turned a blind eye to religious riots in which at least 2,000 Muslims died - charges the BJP has denied. During this election, the BJP has campaigned on a platform of strong economic growth and its nascent peace drive with Pakistan. BJP leaders have also met frequently with Muslim leaders on the campaign trail and included them in their election appearances. Indians go to the polls Thursday in the second of five phases of the polls that are being staggered to allow security forces and election officials to move around the vast country of over one billion people. |
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