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Vajpayee contradicting himself, says Natwar Singh

The Congress today said the air strikes to clear the infiltrators should continue even if Pakistani Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz arrives for talks.

K Natwar Singh, chairman of the foreign affairs cell of the Congress, said his party welcomes talks to bring peace in the area, but at the same time action against the intruders should continue.

He said the government should inform the people why Aziz is coming and what he wants to discuss with his Indian counterpart and the prime minister.

They should also make it public if Pakistan is prepared to return Flight Lieutenant K Nachiketa, who is being held captive by it.

Singh, who has handled the foreign ministry in the past, said Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee contradicted himself when he described the situation in Kargil as "war-like".

"Is this not an attempt to gloss over India's view that the Pakistani government was kept in the dark about the infiltration operations. This could not have happened because the current military chief was handpicked by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharief when he chose to dispense with the services of General Jahangir Karamat," Natwar Singh said.

He said the Bharatiya Janata Party government is crying itself hoarse about the Lahore Declaration, while Vajpayee today conceded that Pakistan was planning the infiltration even as the draft for the declaration was being prepared.

He said Vajpayee should have told United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, who called him on Saturday night, to advise Pakistan to follow the Simla Agreement which had prevented war for 27 years.

Asked what he felt about officials of the defence ministry 'briefing' the national executive of the ruling BJP, Singh said such a thing was "inconceivable".

"I should think so," was his answer to a question if the action violated service rules. The prime minister could have delegated some of his colleagues to brief the executive, he remarked.

UNI

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