NEW DELHI, Aug 15: Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee invited Pakistan on Friday to walk a potentially “bumpy” road to peace with his country but also slammed Kashmir’s quest for self-determination as communally inspired and therefore untenable.
Speaking from behind a bullet-proof screen at the rain-drenched Red Fort to celebrate India’s 56th Independence Day, Mr Vajpayee made a clutch of friendly overtures to Pakistan, dwelling on the theme much longer than any other issue he covered in 25 minutes.
Opposition parties, including the Congress and the Left Front slammed the speech for lacklustre, but they all uniformly welcomed the approach of peace towards Pakistan.
“Our frequent initiatives to normalize relations with Pakistan are not a sign of our weakness,” Mr Vajpayee said. “Rather, they are an indication of our commitment to peace.”
He said in recent months there had been modest progress in normalizing relations with Pakistan. But “terrorist activities are still continuing.”
The test of Pakistan’s sincerity for peace, he said, “lies in whether (it) is prepared to stop cross-border terrorism totally. We hope Pakistan abjures its anti-India outlook. The people of both countries wish to live in peace.”
He said India and Pakistan had spent some 50 years fighting. “How much more blood shall we spill? The two of us need to combat poverty, unemployment and backwardness.”
Repeating India’s thrust for closer economic cooperation, an issue that looms large over the future of bilateral ties as well as over Saarc, Mr Vajpayee said: “We should increase trade and economic links between our two countries. When we share a 2,000 kilometres long border it makes no sense for us to trade via a third country.”
In an indication that the existing niggling travel facilities between the two countries are likely to receive an early boost, Mr Vajpayee said: “Let people travel to and fro. Let more and more elected representatives visit each other’s country. Let us expand bilateral cultural relations.”
Recalling the warmth that the two-year old Pakistani girl Noor Fatima had received in India recently, Mr Vajpayee said this burgeoning was something that “our friends in Pakistan should understand.”
He said: “Let us open some new doors and new windows in the walls that divide us.”
“On the occasion of Independence Day of both our countries I invite Pakistan to walk together with India on the road to peace. This road is decidedly bumpy. There are even mines strewn along this path. Yet, once we start walking, we will find the hurdles getting out of our way,” he said.
Mr Vajpayee spoke at length about recent developments in Jammu and Kashmir and about India’s quest to establish peace in the region. The prime minister who had revived the current peace moves with Pakistan from Srinagar in April, said he would visit the state again this month, possibly to boost a dialogue with local leaders.
“The people of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh have faith in democracy. They want peace. They would like to see happiness return to their lives,” Mr Vajpayee said. But, he added: “Those people who, while talking about Kashmir, advocate the right to self-determination, wish to divide India on communal lines for the second time. They will not be allowed to succeed in this.”
Analysts noted that Mr Vajpayee had emphasized the fact this year more than a 100,000 tourists had gone to Jammu and Kashmir and that there was a large turnout of pilgrims going on the Hindu Amarnath pilgrimage.
He said nearly 6,000 students from different parts of India are today studying in Kashmir. “Next week, we shall launch mobile telephone services in the state.” All this would not be possible had armed militancy not abated substantially in the region, the analysts said.
While much of his speech was conciliatory and mild, Mr Vajpayee maintained that India’s nuclear prowess was something to applaud.