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March, 31 2005
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Thursday
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20 Safar 1426
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Singh hints at talks on Kashmir: President’s visit to India
By Jawed Naqvi
NEW DELHI, March 30: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh indicated on Wednesday that he would discuss all issues with President General Pervez Musharraf in New Delhi next month, including the issue of Kashmir, Press Trust of India said. “When two political leaders meet, they cannot confine their discussions barely to the state of weather,” Dr Singh told reporters accompanying him on his four-day visit to Mauritius that began on Wednesday.
Indian officials have been trying to play down the political aspect of President Musharraf’s visit. As now hinted at by the prime minister, political discussions would also be held during the president’s visit who would travel to New Delhi apparently to watch the last One Day International between cricket teams of the two countries on April 17. Dr Singh said one round of the composite dialogue process had been completed and both countries were about to begin another round.
He said that hurdles in the way of the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service, scheduled to start on April 7, had been satisfactorily resolved. “The people of the two countries wanted us to move forward and give a new shape to the friendship,” Dr Singh said expressing support for greater people-to-people contacts.
In reply to a question about the US decision to sell F-16 planes to Pakistan, the prime minister replied he had already publicly stated that the F-16 issue had come at a time when “we are engaged in this process,” PTI said. Meanwhile, talking to the visiting delegation of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League, Indian External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh said his country was committed to taking the composite dialogue process forward to settle all issues between the two countries.
He said the Indian leadership looked forward to President Musharraf’s visit, adding that the president was expected to stay up to April 18. Referring to the Muzaffarabad-Srinagar bus service, he said Congress president Sonia Gandhi would join Prime Minister Singh in flagging off the first bus. Mr Natwar told the delegation, led by PML president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, that India was committed to implementing the Indus Water Treaty in letter and in spirit.
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