Gujral, Sharif re-vow to go ahead with talks

Despite the battle on the northern front, Prime Minister I K Gujral and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharief reiterated their commitment to carry forward the Indo-Pak dialogue.

Informed sources said the two leaders exchanged detailed views on the current state of relations over the hotline on Wednesday night. The border firing in Jammu and Kashmir, wherein civilian lives were lost and property damaged on both sides, came in for a detailed discussion, they said.

Wednesday's discussion was the first in three months -- the last time the PMs spoke on the phone was in June, just before the second round of the Indo-Pak foreign secretary-level talks.

The hotline was established in May, in pursuance of a decision taken by the two leaders at the SAARC summit in Male.

Addressing a rally on Thursday, Gujral said there was nothing to worry about the Pakistani firing -- the army was on full alert to meet the situation. He said India was keen to develop good neighbourly relations despite the incident.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Foreign Secretary Shamshad Ahmad on Thursday lodged a strong protest with Indian High Commissioner in Islamabad S K Lamba about India's firing in which '14 (Pakistani) civilians were killed and 26 injured.'

The incident, Ahmad claimed, was despite the talk which Pakistan's Director General of Military Operations had with his Indian counterpart on September 30.

Pakistan also expressed serious concern over 'provocative statements' made by Defence Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav during his visit to the border areas recently.

''These statements appear to have encouraged Indian troops to indulge in unprovoked firing,'' Ahmad said.

UNI