Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has said that ties between India and Pakistan can improve only if Pakistan is ready to give up its 'attitude of enmity'.
He said a 'good beginning' could be made to improve Indo-Pak ties from next month's SAARC summit in Islamabad.
"Pakistan's conduct in the SAARC summit starting in Islamabad early next month will only show whether it wants to improve its relations with India," Vajpayee said in an interview to Dainik Jagran Hindi daily published on Thursday.
Vajpayee, who would be attending the four-day summit of the seven-member grouping from January 4, said good talks have been held earlier too.
"But the basic question is whether Pakistan is prepared to give up its attitude of enmity towards India. If yes, a good beginning can be made to improve the ties from the SAARC summit," he said.
Asked whether Pakistan's intention to improve ties was clear, Vajpayee said, "We will only know in Islamabad whether there is any basic change in Pakistan's attitude."
He, however, wanted to know why Pakistan has not granted the Most Favoured Nation status to India whereas New Delhi has already taken such a step.
"If the trade between the two countries grows, the flow of people begins and becomes easier and Pakistan sheds its anti-India attitude in national and international fora, then a change in the present situation can be possible," he said.
Asked how far India was prepared to go in view of President Pervez Musharraf's statement that old attitudes needed to be shed to resolve problems, Vajpayee said, "It is not a question of going how far. The question is India wants good relations with Pakistan."
"We went to Lahore and got Kargil in return. Even then we did not give up our efforts to improve ties and the general was invited to Agra but Musharraf was not prepared to talk on any issue except Kashmir. But it appears, perhaps Pakistan has begun accepting that its attitude is wrong," the prime minister said.
On speculation that Lok Sabha election could be held earlier and the BJP national executive in Hyderabad next month would discuss it, he said, "Lok Sabha polls have to be held sooner or later. This would definitely figure at the national executive. Many people feel that the situation is favourable but a decision has to be taken after considering all aspects."
When asked about the BJP's position in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, which together accounted for more seats than the five states where assembly polls were recently held, and the party's claim that it would get 300 seats, Vajpayee said, "It is true we have to improve ourselves in UP and Bihar and the organisation needs to be tightened before the polls to make it more effective."
To a question whether the people would give a mandate in favour of a single party like they did in the recent assembly polls in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, the prime minister said, "In these states only we (BJP and Congress) were there. Who was the third?"
Asked whether BJP was prepared to take an initiative so that episodes like Judeo and Jogi were not repeated as he had himself stated in parliament that these sounded an alarm bell for the country's democracy, Vajpayee said that his statement was not aimed at particular persons.
"It is a question of character and morality of political parties. The BJP has been taking initiatives in such matters. We never hesitated to disown even our senior colleagues after they were charged with indulging in corrupt practices. Now a race is on to prove which party is less corrupt whereas the race should be who should bring probity in public life," he said.
Replying to a question that he had spent most of his precious years in fighting the Congress and whether its present position augured well for the democracy, he said, "Congress party has done its duty towards the country. It has served the country for a long time. Now it has to adopt a new look or be prepared to be lost in history."
Asked whether the Congress' ideology or the leadership was responsible for its present position, Vajpayee said, "The party has come to this pass because of deviation from its ideology."
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