NEW DELHI, Jan 7: Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres made a significant observation on Kashmir here on Monday, saying a dialogue, not an India-Pakistan war or acts of terror by militants, should be the way forward.
Mr Peres’ remarks in an interview with an Indian online newspaper came shortly before External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh poured scorn on the idea of talks with Islamabad, saying his six recent meetings in Kathmandu with Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar had not taken up anything substantive for discussion.
Israel has been strangely enough keeping a close eye on the India-Pakistan standoff and its ambassador was one of the only two ambassadors in Kathmandu who were seen taking a keen interest in a South Asian media symposium for peace. The other ambassador present there was the US ambassador.
Asked if he saw the present military build-up on the India- Pakistan border escalating towards a war, Mr Peres told thenewspapertoday.com: “I think it wouldn’t. I have heard some of the poems of your prime minister (Atal Behari Vajpayee). Those are the poems of a man who is deeply committed to peace. I don’t think your PM is seeking an escalation.”
Mr Peres also said it was “always better to have a dialogue than to confront.” On Kashmir, he said: “Our position is clear: we are for the Simla Agreement.”
In remarks that may not go down too well with his more hawkish hosts in New Delhi, Mr Peres claimed there was a similarity between the Palestinian and the Kashmiri situation, “in terms of dialogue and the fact that there is only political and no military solution for both.”
Mr Peres said he would discuss the possibility with Indian leaders of New Delhi being co-opted as a member of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato).
“Nato lost its enemy; today it remains a powerful organization. So why not join Nato and make it an instrument, with all its resources, to fight today’s dangers rather than yesterday’s enemy? I think instead of being an organization that is fighting enemies, it is better to be an organization fighting dangers that are global but without armies — and it is essential that India, Russia are part of it. And New Delhi should now be included in Nato as it has sided with the US and Europe in the war against terrorism.”
In contrast to the message of peace and dialogue that came from a country usually regarded as militarist, India’s own foreign minister was back to advocating a hard-line approach against any talks with Pakistan.
Talking to reporters after a meeting of Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on Monday, Mr Singh alleged that Pakistan was adopting double standards on combating terrorism and that there was no change in its stand vis-a-vis terrorism in Kashmir.
“Pakistan adopts one yardstick when it comes to assisting Western countries in Afghanistan and a different one when it comes to combating terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir,” Mr Singh told the CCS.
“I had six meetings with Pakistan Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar during my four-day stay in Kathmandu during the SAARC summit. I would like to emphasize that no substantive matter was discussed during the meetings.”
Mr Singh also rejected President Musharraf’s claim of having a long informal meeting with Prime Minister Vajpayee.
Asked to comment on the nature of some documents that Mr Vajpayee’s Principal Secretary Brajesh Mishra was seen on a TV channel as handing over to Mr Sattar, the Indian external affairs minister said that thousands of documents were exchanged during the Saarc summit and that it was difficult to say which specific paper Mr Mishra was seen on TV handing over to Mr Sattar.
Mr Singh said the army chief had confirmed that one unmanned Pakistani spy plane had been shot down by Indian ground forces. He also clarified that another unmanned aircraft belonging to the Indian army had earlier crashed in Jammu region and that these were two separate incidents.
Mr Singh said the relationship between India and Pakistan was not cordial and the situation on their border was tense. “Unless Pakistan stops aiding and abetting cross-border terrorism, the situation will continue to remain so,” he added.
Mr Singh claimed that a Pakistani Unmanned Aerial Vehicle which was spotted by the Indian troops over Kashmir was brought down as a retaliatory measure. “The UAV fell in Pakistan occupied Kashmir and that was our reaction to the intrusion by Pakistan,” Mr Singh added. On being asked if Delhi would lodge a protest with Islamabad following its airspace violation, Mr Singh said the shooting of the aircraft was in itself a demonstration of India’s protest.