'We must start from Shimla, Lahore'

By Atul Aneja

NEW DELHI, JULY 18. India today declared that the draft Agra declaration could not be the basis for further engagement with Pakistan. New Delhi is prepared to continue the engagement with Islamabad on the basis of the Shimla accord and the Lahore declaration.

Official sources here said India did not see the Agra discussions as a benchmark for resuming the next round of talks with Pakistan. ``It is disappointing that no closure was reached on the text of an agreement. We will have to begin again on the basis of the existing agreements - the Shimla agreement and the Lahore declaration'', the External Affairs Ministry spokesperson said. Analysts interpret the official statement as the Government's formal acknowledgement that the Agra round of talks was unsuccessful.

Highly-placed Government sources said the decision to reject the talks was taken during the Cabinet meeting last night. They added that the decision was triggered by certain observations made by the Pakistani Foreign minister, Mr. Abdul Sattar, in his statement yesterday. Mr. Sattar had listed topics which would comprise the structure for a ``sustained'' dialogue as well as the mechanism for carrying it forward. He had further observed that the draft declarations in Agra would provide a ``valuable foundation'' for the two leaders to reach a full agreement.

Significantly, the Cabinet decision also reverses the statement of the External Affairs Minister, Mr. Jaswant Singh, at his press conference in Agra on Tuesday. Reiterating India's commitment to build on the summit, Mr. Singh categorically said, ``we will pick up the threads from the visit of the President of Pakistan.''

Apparently, India has taken exception to Pakistan's recourse to the media for projecting its views. Asked to comment on Mr. Sattar's observations that the media was an element of ``contemporary diplomacy,'' she dismissed his interpretation as ``novel''. Pointing to the necessity of observing confidentially, she said that otherwise, ``bilateral confidential parleys may very well be held in an amphitheatre with the media present all the time.''

According to her, Pakistan needed to observe three cardinal rules of diplomatic conduct. First, it had to uphold confidentiality during negotiations. Second, it had to ensure that diplomatic protocol was observed at all times. Third, the ``host as well as the guest'' needed to exercise restraint in dealing with the media.

Pakistan's persistence with its media offensive, overriding India's protestations yesterday over the telecast of Gen. Musharraf's interaction with Indian editors, further affected New Delhi's sensitivities, the sources said. Building on its media campaign, Pakistan today offered visas to Indian journalists wanting to cover Gen. Musharraf's press conference in Islamabad on Friday.

India today also took umbrage at Mr. Sattar's distinction of the Line of Control and the International Border in dealing with the question of cross-border terrorism. Expressing ``astonishment'', the spokesperson asserted that ``Pakistan understands perfectly well by what is meant by cross- border terrorism, which is inclusive of encouraging and abetting infiltrations across the LoC.''

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Front Page
Next     : Pak. dumb-struck