rediff.com: Membership of anti-terror coalition cover for Pak's nefarious designs: PM

Pakistan cannot use its membership of the international coalition against terror as a cover for terrorist activities against India, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has said hoping the global community would succeed in persuading Islamabad to end its support to the scourge.

"Pakistan claims that it took a strategic decision to join the international coalition against terrorism. We would endorse the wisdom of this decision. But Pakistan should also understand that there can be no double standards on terrorism; it cannot fight terrorism on its west and sponsor it on its east," he said in an interview published in Cypriot newspaper Politis.

Pakistan's "membership of the international coalition against terrorism cannot be used as a cover for terrorist activities directed against India. Beyond this, we are not concerned about Pakistan's relations with any country," the prime minister said.

It was unfortunately true that thousands of innocent lives have been lost to the mindless violence, which terrorism has unleashed in Jammu and Kashmir, Vajpayee said.

"The international community has recognised this fact of cross-border terrorism. We hope that it will succeed in its efforts to persuade Pakistan to stop supporting terrorism," the prime minister said.

Observing that the first three phases of the recent elections in J&K witnessed a satisfactory voter turnout, the prime minister said, "The people of the state have clearly rejected violence and expressed faith in the democratic process."

"If Pakistan stops sponsoring cross-border terrorism, we would be willing to resume a dialogue with that country on all issues of bilateral interest, including J&K," he said.

Asked about the fallout on India of improved relations between the US and Pakistan in the wake of developments in Afghanistan, Vajpayee said, "India's relations with the US are not dependent on Pakistan's relations with that country. They have a far wider global context."

He said the past year has seen a positive growth in Indo-US bilateral engagement and cooperation. On UN reforms, Vajpayee said the UN Security Council should be expanded and reformed to "reflect contemporary realities".

"It should include developing countries in both the permanent and non-permanent categories, so that it is more responsive to the needs of its members," he stressed.

He said a number of developed and developing countries have supported the idea of India becoming a permanent member of the Security Council with Cyprus being among the first to do so.

"We believe India qualifies for this position on objective criteria including size, population, economic potential and our contribution to UN activities over more than 55 years," he said.

Cyprus has been facing problems over a long-standing dispute between the dominant Greek and Turkish communities and the issue has even figured at the UN.

Asked about India's views on the problem, Vajpayee said, "Our support or the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of Cyprus has remained firm through the years. Our position remains unchanged that a solution to the Cyprus problem has to be in conformity with the UN resolutions and in the best interests of the Cypriot people."

He said the two countries would on Tuesday sign a bilateral agreement for cooperation in information technology. Several Indians are working in Cyprus as computer scientists and software professionals.

The prime minister also hoped that the two countries would soon have direct air links to give greater impetus to people-to-people contacts.


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