January 6, 2002	Sunday	Shawwal 21, 1422

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SWABI, Jan 5: The president of National Awami Party Pakistan, Ajmal Khattak, on Saturday said that despite amassing troops on the borders with Pakistan, India will not be able to declare war against its neighbour.

“There will be no war between the two nuclear powers of South Asia,” he remarked while talking to local journalists, observing: “the Indian government wants to exploit the international environment against terrorism and for achieving its objective, it exerts immense pressure on Pakistan.”

The NAPP chief said that Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee “can neither achieve his objectives through war, nor can he brush aside the international pressure for defusing tension with Pakistan. Whatever he is doing is a strategy to achieve some specific purposes.”

Saying that thick clouds of war have been hovering over the South Asian region, Ajmal claimed that the constant cry for peace, especially the efforts put in by the US to avert war between the two nuclear neighbours, will bear fruit.

Pakistan and India will have to resolve all outstanding issues, including the core issue of Kashmir, through peaceful means, he observed while appreciating the maximum restraint exercised by Pakistan to avoid war.

“War is not a solution. The leaders of the two South Asian giants should sit across the negotiation table and must keep all diplomatic options open to defuse the mounting tensions. Only talks held with an open heart can resolve all their issues and it is the need of the hour,” Ajmal Khattak said.

Condemning the attack on the Indian parliament building, the NAPP chief said that instead of pointing an accusing finger at Pakistan, India should first initiate probe to uncover the culprits involved in the terrorist act.

Replying to a question, he said that the crackdown launched by the government was not against the religious parties and their other outfits. The crackdown is aimed at flushing out extremists from the society, he added.

The veteran politician said that America would get nothing out of the continuing bombardment on Afghanistan, adding it would only create hatred among the Afghans against the sole arbitrator of international order.