August 30, 2002	Friday	Jamadi-us-Saani 20, 1423

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)

NEW DELHI, Aug 29: Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee will address the UN General Assembly on Sept 13, a day after President Pervez Musharraf’s speaks there, the Press Trust of India said on Thursday.

It added Vajpayee is expected to meet President George W. Bush on Sept 12, when he is expected to brief him about what India regards about the situation along LoC.

This was stated by US ambassador, Robert Blackwill, on Thursday after a 45-minute meeting with Deputy Prime Minister L. K. Advani here.

Blackwill also met External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha and National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra to discuss preparations for Vajpayee’s visit to the US.

“I tried to understand the views of the top Indian leadership” on various matters which were likely to come up during the discussions, he said.

“Vajpayee is expected to convey India’s concerns on continuing ‘Pakistan-backed cross-border terrorism’ despite President Pervez Musharraf’s assurance to the international community to end it permanently,” PTI said.

REMARKS SLAMMED: India accused President Pervez Musharraf of failing a key credibility test after he apparently told the BBC that Islamabad had not given any timeframe to the various international interlocutors about halting cross-border infiltration in Kashmir.

Responding to Gen Musharraf’s remarks in an interview to BBC, India’s External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Nirupama Rao said: “His latest statement suggests that he will end infiltration only when he finds it opportune; in other words, Pakistan will continue to use terrorism as an instrument of state policy.”

Gen Musharraf had been quoted in the interview as saying that “we have not given any time limits. I said nothing is happening across the Line of Control. But of course one can imagine, unless there is some progress, some movement on Kashmir, some response and some reciprocation from the Indian side... How long will all this remain quiet for no movement on Kashmir.”

Rao said: “If there was room in further lowering the sincerity and credibility of Pakistan’s statements, then that space has been found.”