'Vajpayee should not go to Pak.'

By Mahesh Vijapurkar

MUMBAI, JULY 18. The Shiv Sena, a key ally of the BJP, was never warm to the idea of a summit between India and Pakistan and after the Agra summit, it sees no point in the Prime Minister, Mr. A.B. Vajpayee, meeting the Pakistan President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, again. Given Pakistan's known views and approach to India, the Shiv Sena chief, Mr. Bal Thackeray, feels such meetings will serve no purpose. When the invitation went out to Islamabad, Mr. Thackeray said that such discussions had to be gone through but warned that the exercise would be futile. If Mr. Vajpayee went to Pakistan to continue the dialogue, then ``the country would turn against him'', he said.

Mr. Thackeray also warned that if any concessions were made to Pakistan on the Kashmir issue, then his party would be forced to reconsider its support to the NDA. Mr. Thackeray said he did not want any talks to be conducted to put an end to cross-border terrorism; he wanted all militancy to end before India even started talks on other issues.

When Gen. Musharraf arrived the Chief of the Indian Air Force, Air Chief Marshal A.Y. Tipnis, did not salute him but merely shook hands. This Mr. Thackeray said, was a tit-for-tat gesture to Gen. Musharraf, who did not meet Mr. Vajpayee in Wagah.``We will never leave Kashmir and they want Kashmir, hence solving this issue appears to be a difficult proposition'', he added.

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