NEW DELHI, April 13: Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has said if elected again his priority will be to intensify the dialogue process with Pakistan to seek permanent peace and a complete normalization of bilateral ties
, The Times of India reported on Tuesday, quoting from an interview with him.
In the wide-ranging interview to the paper, Mr Vajpayee said there was some confusion over the chronology of events as he tried to explain Mr Advani's role in resuming the dialogue with President Gen Pervez Musharraf.
"Let me give you an example. Talks with Gen Musharraf had begun. There was opposition within (from Hindu hardliners). After my Srinagar offer of talks to Pakistan, the question was raised that, after all, Gen Musharraf hasn't accepted the fact of terrorism (in Kashmir).
So, how did you offer a proposal for talks, I was asked. There was quite a bit of criticism. It was only Advaniji who said 'you have done the right thing'. Not too many know of this, people tend to assume that Advaniji is very hard," Mr Vajpayee said (briefly reported in Tuesday's issue of Dawn).
It was difficult for Mr Vajpayee to say if the talks offer he made from Srinagar on April 18, last year was pre-meditated or spontaneous. "You have put a difficult question, because I have myself wondered how exactly it happened.
No doubt, the tremendous enthusiasm of the Kashmiri people at the public meeting - the first such meeting addressed by an Indian prime minister in 18 years - struck an emotional chord in me," Mr Vajpayee recalled.
That outpouring of emotions had reinforced his belief that he was on the right track to seek good relations with Pakistan. "Therefore, when I raised my hand during the course of my speech, something which I normally do, I spontaneously said, 'I am extending my hand of friendship to Pakistan'.
It was not pre- planned. But I cannot say it was not pre-meditated. Peace and good relations with Pakistan, without compromising India's national interest, is a dream I have nurtured even before I became the external affairs minister in 1977," Mr Vajpayee said.
The American invasion of Iraq too was at the back of his mind when he spoke of peace with Pakistan that day. Calling it a 'circumstantial factor' in the India-Pakistan thaw, he recalled that the US war on Iraq was going on when he visited Srinagar.
"I said in that meeting, and also in the press conference on the following day, that the (Iraq) war was a warning to all developing countries and we needed to resolve our disputes peacefully and speedily amongst ourselves. The number of people in Pakistan who think likewise is steadily growing."
Asked if he believed that Pakistan would stay committed to peace, Mr Vajpayee remarked: "I have faith in the insaniyat of people everywhere, including the people of Pakistan. There is realization that fighting ... wars is neither a solution nor even an option".
He denied there was any American role in the resumption of the peace talks. Mr Vajpayee said working on India's economy and foreign policy would be his important objectives if he became prime minister again.
"In development, we are determined to deal with the challenge of water and electricity.... on foreign policy, we will intensify the dialogue process with Pakistan to achieve permanent peace and normalization of bilateral relations," he said.
