NEW DELHI, April 23: Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri was quoted on Wednesday as welcoming what he saw as a new nuance in Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s offer of friendship to Islamabad and indicated that the delayed Islamabad Saarc summit could take place in November.
“I find what he said very different. Earlier statements attached preconditions and used unacceptable words, but now Mr Vajpayee has attached preconditions and used very acceptable language. This change of nuance is very important,” Kasuri told the Asian Age in a telephonic interview.
Telling the interviewer that Pakistan does not want “cross-border activity”, Kasuri stressed, in what was described as a long and passionate interview, that “violence in Jammu and Kashmir against civilians is against our interests and totally counterproductive”.
The interviewer said: “The foreign minister was very keen to convince Indians that Pakistan was not party to the violence in Jammu and Kashmir. He said that no country, not even the United States, had been able to completely seal its borders.”
Mr Kasuri said Pakistan did not want violence, and it was to create an atmosphere of trust that it had been asking for UN monitoring of both sides of the Line of Control through the UN Military Observers Group, which could be strengthened for this additional task.
He said that if India was opposed to a UN presence, then the same could be done by any “five or six countries” agreed to jointly by both India and Pakistan.
Welcoming Vajpayee’s offer of talks, said he did not want to go by the “retired gurus” in India who had already started predicting doom for the peace process.
“I am an optimist. I like to take things at face value for that is the only way to approach a situation with an open heart and an open mind. If one starts suspecting motives, we won’t be able to go anywhere,” he said.
The foreign minister went on to point out that “the retired gurus were not restricted to India, but were very visible on television and in the newspapers in Pakistan as well”.
Mr Kasuri urged people not to listen to them lest another window of opportunity was closed with their cynicism. “Peace on the subcontinent is too important a matter for me to approach Mr Vajpayee’s remarks with cynicism,” he said.
He pointed out that this “improved atmosphere can only last for a certain period of time” and it was important for both governments to seize the opportunity to begin a dialogue.—J.N.
