04 September 2004	Saturday	18 Rajab 1425

New Delhi, September 3: India plans to adopt a "no negotiations" policy with future hostage-takers, practised as an inflexible rule only by the United States, China, and Israel , Indian National Security Advisor Jyotindra Nath Dixit was quoted on Friday as saying.

If implemented the policy will have a direct bearing on India's security stance in Jammu and Kashmir, along with myriad other potential crisis points straddling the country. "The government is undertaking a macro-level exercise for formulating such a policy. It may be a declaration of intent for which parliament will be taken into confidence," Mr Dixit told the Indian Express.

His remarks came as three Indian hostages safely return home after a gruelling 42 days of captivity in Baghdad. Mr Dixit said the United Progressive Alliance government was working to frame a "policy" on tackling hostage situations. Its cornerstone: the principle of "no negotiations".

He said that apart from himself, M K Narayanan, the prime minister's special advisor on internal security, would be engaged in formulating the policy which had the backing of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Mr Dixit said the proposed "no negotiations" policy would be the basic principle behind the proposal with, of course, "related aspects like subsequent action and assessment of captors' capabilities".

Giving his first reaction on the release of the three Indian truck drivers in Baghdad, Mr Dixit said the government "succeeded" because of a combination of three things: "correct assessment of the motivation and capabilities of the captors as well as of the options before us.''

"Human lives are important," he said, "but if you compromise once, you can be victimized again and again." "Maulana Masood Azhar was released by theIndian Government, and in my opinion he alone has been responsible for killing 400-500 persons after that," he said.