May 17, 2003	Saturday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 14, 1424

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NEW DELHI, May 16: Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has said that the Kashmir dispute will be resolved but both Islamabad and New Delhi would have had “other disputes” to resolve even if the long-standing dispute did not mar the relations between the two countries.

Mr Vajpayee was quoted as saying in an interview appearing in Sahara Time’s inaugural issue, which would be launched on Saturday (today). Excerpts of his interview on key issues, including relations with Pakistan, changing global scenario and his experiences in the government, were released on Friday.

“I am confident that the Kashmir problem will be resolved and peace will return,” Mr Vajpayee said in an interview with the weekly journal, which is to be launched from Saturday.

“May I stress that the bilateral relations between Pakistan and India should not be linked only to (the issue of) Kashmir,” Mr Vajpayee said. “Pakistan and India would have had several disputes even if the one on Kashmir did not exist,” Mr Vajpayee said.

Mr Vajpayee’s views on the Kashmir dispute echoed the remarks of Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishan Advani’s Friday remarks in which he had said that Pakistan need not change its attitude towards the Kashmir issue but it should reconsider its approach to what New Delhi sees as the cross-border terrorism.

Complaining that Pakistan had not responded positively to earlier Indian efforts in connection with normalisation of ties between the two countries, he said that the onus was on Islamabad for creating a conducive atmosphere for the prospective dialogue by ending what he described as being “transnational terrorism”.

“We wish to normalise our relations with Pakistan,” he said, referring to his journey by bus to Lahore in 1999 and the Agra summit in July 2001.

“But Pakistan did not respond positively. Trust is the foundation of a genuine dialogue. So the onus is on Pakistan to stop aiding and abetting cross-border terrorism. Then we will be ready for a dialogue ... I have often stated that we can change friends but not neighbours. The sooner Pakistan understands this reality, the better it is for them.”

Mr Vajpayee reiterated that it was India’s national interests and not pressure from the US that had prompted his latest initiative to improve ties with Pakistan. “India is a self-respecting nation. It kowtows to nobody.”

He said India would like “terrorism to be defeated” across the world and would welcome the world community’s support in its fight against terror. “But let it be clear that we shall have to fight our own war against terror and we are doing that.”

India, Mr Vajpayee said, would also intensify its efforts to revive the UN mechanism, which had been marginalized by the US-led attack on Iraq, and to make the new world order fair and balanced.

“Our concern (about the UN’s role) has deepened in the post-war period,” he said.

Terming the communal violence in the India state of Gujarat “unfortunate”, Mr Vajpayee said that he would like to forget the incident. At least 2,000 persons had died in the communal violence, which had erupted in Gujarat in 2002.

He listed India’s emergence as a nuclear power, the holding of “free and fair elections” in the India occupied Kashmir in 2002 and several developmental programmes, including the national highway project, as being the major achievements of his government.

Meanwhile, Mr Advani, was quoted by the Zee News TV channel as saying that the third peace initiative of India had a “scope” in the present international climate.

Citing the Agra summit where India and Pakistan had decided to talk on every issue including Kashmir, he said: “Today ... I want to emphasise that we are not asking them to abandon their views on Kashmir but change their views on terrorism.”

Mr Advani was talking to reporters accompanying him on a day-long visit to Mumbai.

Responding to a question about the possibility of failure of the ongoing peace process, Mr Advani was quoted by the TV channel as replying in the negative.

Reacting to the recent statements made by Pakistani leaders, Mr Advani, while acknowledging the fact that there was a basic difference of views over the Kashmir issue, said that there was no change in the attitude so far as the Kashmir was concerned.

India, he said, wanted to see a change in Pakistan’s views on terrorism, adding that Islamabad had been emphasising that peace between the two countries was not dependent solely on one reason — Kashmir.

Mr Advani recalled that during the Agra summit he had told President Pervez Musharraf that dialogue was the only way for both the countries to seek a solution to resolve key issues, including Kashmir and not through use of war — both direct and proxy.

“Today also, I am emphasising the same,” Mr Advani said.