NEW DELHI, 30 April 2003 — Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee yesterday dampened hopes that he would travel to Islamabad for talks with archrival Pakistan, as violence again exploded in Kashmir.
Analysts had said a breakthrough telephone call between Pakistan and India’s prime ministers had strengthened prospects for a resumption of long-stalled dialogue between the nuclear rivals.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali called Vajpayee late Monday, invited him to visit Pakistan for talks and offered to travel in person to India “in the interests of peace and stability in South Asia”, in response to Vajpayee’s April 18 offer of dialogue.
However, Vajpayee said he would not visit Islamabad unless alleged cross-border terrorism in Kashmir is stamped out, a spokesman for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said yesterday.
“The prime minister can go to Pakistan if terrorism stops totally,” said the spokesman, Vijay Kumar Malhotra. “The prime minister told the BJP MPs about his talks with Zafarullah Jamali. The prime minister said he has not accepted Jamali’s invitation to visit Pakistan.”
However, a government spokesman later disputed the notion that Vajpayee had rejected Jamali’s offer.
“It is not correct to say, as reported in some section of the media, that the prime minister did not accept the invitation to visit Pakistan, extended by Prime Minister Jamali,” External Affairs Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna told AFP.
“The idea of Prime Minister Vajpayee visiting Pakistan or Prime Minister Jamali coming to India was mentioned by the Pakistan prime minister in a very general way. The idea was not pursued further by either side during the conversation. Therefore, the question of rejecting the invitation does not arise.”
During Monday’s talks the two leaders agreed to consider issues like restoring air and sporting links, which were halted after India blamed Pakistan for a deadly attack on its New Delhi Parliament complex in December 2001.
According to Malhotra, the issue of insurgency in Kashmir had also been discussed.
He said that Vajpayee’s offer to Pakistan had preconditions that “cross-border terrorism” must end.
“These preconditions will remain as long as the proxy war continues on behalf of Pakistan. Both things cannot go hand-in-hand,” he added.
Meanwhile, the bloodletting in Kashmir continued yesterday, with 13 militants and eight Indian soldiers killed in a bloody clash in southern Kashmir’s Doda district.
Police claimed the guerrillas were trying to infilitrate Indian-administered Kashmir when they engaged the security forces in a heavy firefight.
Indian troops came under heavy fire during a search operation in the Barat Nala area of Doda, about 180 kilometers southeast of Indian Kashmir’s winter capital Jammu, a police spokesman said.
The operation was launched early yesterday after a tip-off that a group of guerrillas was trying to infiltrate into Indian Kashmir from the Pakistan controlled zone of the disputed state, he added.
The exchange lasted for three hours after which the soldiers found the bodies of 13 militants, the spokesman said.
Two Indian soldiers died on the spot while six others who had been wounded died on their way to hospital. Two soldiers and a policeman were also seriously injured in the encounter.
“Seven civilians were rescued by the Indian Army and Kashmir police. In the encounter, two houses which the militants were using as a hide-out were ... damaged,” said the spokesman.
Vohra Fails to Break
Ice With Separatists
In Srinagar, India’s newly appointed pointman on Kashmir wrapped up his first visit to the restive region yesterday without making any progress with separatists opposed to New Delhi’s rule in the state.
N.N. Vohra, who was appointed in February, arrived in the summer capital Srinagar last Monday to talk to elected representatives and other sectors of Kashmiri society. The main separatist alliance, the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), refused to meet Vohra and instead asked for talks at a “higher level.”
Even moderate separatists such as Shabir Shah, who unlike the Hurriyat met with previous Indian interlocutors, refused to see him.
Vohra’s visit coincided with a surge in violence, a police spokesman said. Before he left Vohra appealed for separatists to talk to him during future visits.
“The process (of talks) will not be complete unless we have heard and discussed with all those who are angry, who are unhappy, who are dissidents, who have faith and belief which is somewhat contrary to others.. that would happen indeed,” he told a news conference at the end of his nine-day tour.
“I appeal to everyone, with whatever belief or ideology, to come forward and participate in the process (of negotiations).
“This is my preliminary visit, I wish to come again to meet those whom I have not met this time,” he said adding that he was confident he would meet “those who didn’t meet me this time” on his next visit.
Even non-separatist politicians have begun to say Vohra’s mission is destined to fail.
“Without the involvement of those who are not in the political mainstream the dialogue is destined to doom,” said Omar Abdullah, the head of the opposition National Conference (NC) party, which was swept from power last year.
On his arrival Vohra had said his doors would be open for all, but he did not issue formal invitations to the separatists, although his telephone numbers were printed in local newspapers.
Vajpayee said during his visit to Kashmir on April 18-19 that Vohra would be bringing invitations with him.
“We didn’t receive any invitation. And we didn’t want to talk in the crowd,” said Shah, who has spent more than 20 years in prison for supporting Kashmir’s secession from India. But Vohra said it was not intended to issue special invitations.
