Author: Agencies
Publication: The Economic Times
Date: May 14, 2003
But India Will Insist That US Turns
The Heat On Pak to Halt Cross- Border Terrorism
INDIA-Pakistan peace moves will
top the agenda during Indian external affairs minister Yashwant Sinha's
meeting with US secretary of state Colin Powell here, according to well-placed
diplomatic sources.
Mr Sinha arrived here on Tuesday
on a four-day official visit to Russia to participate in the 9th session
of the Indo-Russian Joint Commission, the apex body to provide guidelines
to bilateral co-operation in trade, economic, cultural, scientific and
technical spheres.
The meeting with Mr Powell is the
first item on Mr Sinha's agenda in Moscow. The US official is arriving
here after a trip to the Middle East.
His deputy secretary, Richard Armitage,
who held talks with Indian and Pakistani leaders during a visit to the
region last week, would have already briefed Mr Powell about the situation
in the region.
Mr Sinha is expected to tell Mr
Powell what Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee told a conference of defence
scientists in New Delhi on Sunday - that the US was not putting enough
pressure on Pakistan to stop cross-border terrorism against India. He is
also expected to reiterate India's stand that a meaningful dialogue with
Pakistan is only possible if Islamabad creates a conducive atmosphere by
putting an end to cross-border terrorism and dismantling the terrorist
network in its part of Kashmir.
"India-Pakistan dialogue and a new
summit is possible if Pakistan fulfils its promise," reiterated Indian
ambassador to Moscow K Raghunath.
The two sides will also discuss
issues of common interest and bilateral concern during Moscow talks, he
said, adding the post-war situation in Iraq is also expected to figure
in the talks.Apart from participating in the two-day Indo-Russian Joint
Commission meeting from Wednesday, Mr Sinha will also hold talks with Russian
foreign minister Igor Ivanov, deputy PM and finance minister Aleksei Kudrin
and call on Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Atal Bihari
Vajpayee said today that talks between India and Pakistan cannot begin
till cross-border terrorism is put an end to and terrorist infrastructure
in that country dismantled.
Speaking to reporters on his arrival
here for a six-day retreat this morning, he said Pakistani leadership's
call for starting an 'unconditional" dialogue does not have any meaning
as "it is essential that cross-border terrorism must end."- Agencies
