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India plays down areas of difference

Amberish K Diwanji in New Delhi

The ministry of external affairs today insisted that it did not read anything wrong with the statement by United States secretary of state Madeleine Albright that the US had not changed its view that south Asia was the most dangerous place in the world today and that India and Pakistan must hold talks at the earliest to ease tensions.

Albright reportedly made the statements when she briefed the White House press corps after US President Bill Clinton and Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee signed a vision statement on future bilateral relations.

MEA spokesperson Raminder Singh Jassal today said that, as far as India understood Albright's statement, she had only iterated her president's views.

Clinton has often said that, in south Asia, both sides must show restraint, the Line of Control (which divides Kashmir) must be respected and the dialogue renewed.

"Only one side has been violating the LoC and it is clear that unless the above-mentioned conditions are met, the atmosphere is not right for carrying on the dialogue," he said.

When it was pointed out that Clinton had also said that adversarial relations between India and Pakistan should not preclude talks, Jassal insisted that the US president had made it clear that restraint and respecting the LoC were necessary for carrying on the dialogue.

"Please note that India has never shied away from having talks. In fact, it is always India that took the initiative, a fact that the US president appreciated when he spoke about the Lahore bus trip. But it is also clear that talks cannot be held in an atmosphere where there is no restraint or respect for the LoC," he said.

He added, "Please don't take a point out of context and draw your own interpretations."

He further said that for India, cessation of hostile acts, propaganda and cross-border terrorism would be considered as creating the right atmosphere.

Asked what Albright meant when she reportedly mentioned the "zones of occupation" in Kashmir, the ministry spokesman replied: "Parts of Jammu and Kashmir are under illegal occupation."

This morning, External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh had breakfast with Albright where they resolved to carry forward the statements made by their respective heads of government and put into action the vision statement.

Ministry of external affairs spokesperson Raminder Singh Jassal said that the two did not discuss anything new went over the ground covered in the meetings between the two heads of government. "They discussed in great detail the talks between the two summit leaders," he said.

The meeting lasted 50 minutes.

Jaswant Singh also met US Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott for a short while after meeting Albright. Singh and Talbott have already held 10 rounds of talks on nuclear non-proliferation after India conducted the nuclear tests in May 1998.

"Singh and Talbott took the opportunity to discuss the dialogue architecture between India and the US and how it could be further carried forward," said the MEA spokesperson.

Yesterday, US Commerce Secretary William Daley called on the Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry Murasoli Maran. In their talks on bilateral trade and investment issues, Maran said that Indo-US trade relations had entered a new phase with the setting up of the Indo-US commercial dialogue and the working group on Indo-US trade as part of the vision statement.

Daley said that problems should not deter the two sides from forming better trade ties. "There will be problems only if there is more trade," he said.

Maran also spoke of India's concerns on certain bilateral matters such as the US's anti-dumping action against Indian steel, misconceptions relating to child labour and the denial of the generalised system of preferences on grounds of non-compliance with intellectual trade rights.

Daley said the GSP benefits were likely to be restored when the annual review meeting took place in June this year.

Daley also mentioned the problems faced by soda ash export to India and Maran replied that there was no ban on its import since soda ash came on an open general license.

CLINTON VISITS INDIA:The complete coverage

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