May 11, 2003	Sunday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 8, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, May 10: Two key opposition parties on Saturday said they did not intend to convene a session of the National Assembly or Senate to discuss Pakistan-India relations as it could derail the current government-opposition talks.

“However, the prime minister will have to take parliament into confidence before initiating a dialogue with India,” PPP’s parliamentary leader in the Senate Mian Raza Rabbani and PML-N’s acting chief Makhdoom Javed Hashmi said after their meeting here on Saturday.

Both the leaders discussed the prevailing political situation in the country, with particular reference to the ongoing talks on the Legal Framework Order.

They exchanged views on the possible outcome of the talks. They also discussed matters relating to the sessions of the two chambers of parliament.

Later, talking to Dawn, Mr Rabbani and Mr Hashmi said the PPP and the PML-N were the two sister parties in the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) and had a common point of view on the question of LFO.

Both of them reiterated their parties’ stand that the LFO could not be a part of the Constitution without parliament’s approval.

Talking about the future strategy in case the talks failed, they said it would likely be decided by the ARD in its next meeting due on May 17. They said the opposition’s approach in the talks was very positive and the same was expected from the government side.

Javed Hashmi criticized the government for not responding to the remarks of the US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage in which he had stated that Kashmir was not the core issue between India and Pakistan.

He said the government’s “mysterious silence” on this issue was causing apprehensions in people’s minds.

He said the PML-N believed that the first round of unofficial and indirect talks between the governments of India and Pakistan was over, and India had an upper hand in it. It seemed that Pakistan was under great pressure, he added.