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PM to make detailed statement in Parliament today
Cease-fire extended for third time
CCS decision to extend truce in J&K ‘unanimous’
All party meet endorses Govt initiative on peace

NEW DELHI, Feb 21: Backed by all major political parties, the Centre tonight extended the ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir for the third time beyond February 26 to pursue the peace initiative for achieving a lasting solution to the Kashmir problem.

Home Minister L K Advani, briefing newspersons after the 80-minute meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), said Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee would make an elaborate statement in Parliament after question hour tomorrow on the ceasefire issue.

He said since Parliament was in session it would not be appropriate to convey the decision of the CCS. "But the decision was unanimous", the Home Minister said.

Mr Advani said all issues related to Jammu and Kashmir were examined from all angles by the CCS.

Highly- placed sources said the decision of the CCS to extend the truce in Jammu and Kashmir was "unanimous". But the period of extension of the ceasefire and other decisions relating to it would be announced by the Prime Minister in Parliament.

The CCS approval was a foregone conclusion after the Government received overwhelming support from political parties of all hues at this morning’s all-party meeting chaired by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Unlike the last stormy session of the CCS, when the issue of extension of ceasefire came up in January, today’s meeting attended by the Minister of Home, Defence, External Affairs and Finance, National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra, Cabinet Secretary T R Prasad and the Army Chief, was a smooth affair.

A presentation on the security scenario in Jammu and Kashmir was made by the intelligence agencies at the meeting followed by briefs given by the Army Chief and security heads on the situation on the Line of Control and other border areas.

The activities of Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, which of late have stepped up violence in the State, came up for discussion and certain suggestions were made on how to curb their subversive acts which are proving detrimental to the ceasefire.

Earlier in the day, all political parties gave the green signal to the Centre to extend ceasefire, agreeing with the Government’s view that the truce had a positive impact on the Valley.

The BJP, the Congress and the Left parties, however, cautioned the Government to ensure greater vigilance to protect ‘soft targets’.

There was total unanimity among the leaders of all the parties that the ceasefire should be further extended.

In order to take all the political parties into confidence, the Government held today’s meeting ahead of the Cabinet Committee on Security. At the beginning of the meeting the Government made a presentation that showed the positive side of continuing with the ceasefire.

For the first time all political parties were told about the ground realities in the Valley where cross-border firing had decreased significantly although militant activities particularly by foreign mercenaries continued. People in the Valley were also satisfied with the ceasefire.

The extension of the ceasefire is expected to pave the way for the initiation of a dialogue with the Hurriyat Conference and the militant groups.

The Hurriyat Conference and other seperatist groups have been in touch with several prominent personalities who are actively involved in Track II diplomacy.

Several Kashmiri leaders including former Union Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed had strongly advocated that the ceasefire should be backed by concrete steps by the Centre for opening direct channels of communication with various groups to end violence and usher an era of peace in the Valley.

The Hurriyat leaders like Abdul Ghani Lone and Mirwaiz Omer Farooq have also pleaded that the Government should spell out its future agenda for the peace process.

They have also been urging that certain confidence building measures were required to enhance the prospects of peace.

As part of the confidence-building measures, the Hurriyat also demanded that they be allowed to go to Pakistan to persuade the jehadi groups to abandon the path of violence.

The ceasefire was first announced for the month of Ramazan from November 28 and then extended by a month till January 26. Encouraged by the response and the relative peace on the borders, the ceasefire was further extended till February 26.

Earlier in the day, after the two-and-a-half hour all-party meeting, convened by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, the BJP, the Congress and the Left Parties, however, emphasised that while taking a decision to extend the ceasefire the Government should ensure that vigilance be stepped up to protect ‘soft targets’.

"We are satisfied with the Government’s presentation," leader of the opposition Sonia Gandhi said after the meeting. Leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Dr Manmohan Singh, said while supporting the peace moves in the State, the Congress made it clear that the extension of the ceasefire was not an end in itself.

Public opinion should be ascertained and the people of Jammu and Kashmir should be taken into confidence, he said. Dr Singh said the meeting was informed about the beneficial effects of the ceasefire.

Briefing newspersons after the meet, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan said there was unanimity among the leaders of all the parties that the ceasefire be further extended.

"There was no opposition to the Government initiative of ceasefire," he said. In order to take all the political parties into confidence, the Government held today’s meeting ahead of the Cabinet Committee on Security. At the beginning of the meeting the Government made a presentation that showed the positive side of continuing with the ceasefire.

For the first time all political parties were told about the ground realities in the Valley where cross border firing had subsided significantly although militant activities, particularly by foreign mercenaries, continued. People in the Valley were also satisfied with the ceasefire.

Replying to a question, Mr Mahajan said there was no demand for a discussion in Parliament on the issue.

The meeting began with the Intelligence Bureau giving a 35-minute-long presentation on the latest ground situation in Jammu and Kashmir.

Home Minister L K Advani then briefed the leaders about the Government’s assessment of the situation arising from the ceasefire, which he said had found support of the people of the State.

The ceasefire had also found favour with the international community and resulted in the isolation of Pakistan.

Further, there was virtually no exchange of fire along the border.

However, militancy still continued as was evident from the incidents at the Red Fort here and the massacre of Sikhs in the State.

Political leaders urged the Government to ensure the protection of the lives of people who had become soft targets for foreign mercenaries.

They also wanted proper publicity to the drive against militants which had resulted in the killing of 215 of them in the past three months alone. This was necessary to restore the confidence of the people, they said.

Congress president and leader of the opposition Sonia Gandhi said all political parties had endorsed the Government’s initiative of extending the ceasefire.

She said the meeting was primarily called to inform political leaders about the ‘positive effects’ of the ceasefire.

CPI (M) leader Somnath Chatterjee said it was worth taking some more chance if peace could be achieved, but the Government must realise that the ceasefire "cannot be an end to itself but a means towards an end".

He criticised the Government for not initiating any political activity during the ceasefire period. There had been no dialogue nor had steps been taken for the economic development of the State, he said.

Mr Chatterjee also said his party was of the view that maximum permissible autonomy should be given to the State and Article 370 further strengthened. The Government was not coming out with any clear views on this.

BJP parliamentary party spokesman V K Malhotra, who attended the meeting, said his party was still of the view that this should be the last time the ceasefire is extended.

He said the lives and property of soft targets like Sikhs, Bakrawals and Gujjars must be protected and called for strongest action against militants and foreign mercenaries. He said Home Minister L K Advani had assured that all possible steps would be taken to provide adequate security to the people.

Mr Malhotra added that Pakistan’s propaganda especially through its television should be negated to imbibe confidence among the people of the Valley.

Samajwadi Party president and former Defence Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav said his party had always advocated that the country improve its relations with Pakistan as unless this happens both countries could not undertake developmental work.

He said unfortunately the Government was only concentrating on improving its international image without coming to terms with ground realities at home.

While ceasefire should continue, there had to be greater vigilance so that violence against the innocent was halted, he said.

Nationalist Congress Party leader P A Sangma said the positive impact of the ceasefire was not being conveyed to the people which was why there were two views on whether it should continue. "The way it (the Government’s presentation) was presented to us we are satisfied".

"As far as Jammu and Kashmir is concerned the country is one. My party wants the ceasefire to continue".

Telegu Desam Party leader Yerran Naidu also expressed satisfaction at the Government’s presentation of ground realities in the trouble-torn State. He said after the ceasefire, the areas in which the country has gained an upper hand must be consolidated.

Mr Ramakrishna Hegde of the Janata Dal (United) said the atmosphere of goodwill that had been created by the ceasefire should continue but much more vigilance was necessary all over the State.

He said the ceasefire had not only created a good impression among the Kashmiri people but also among the masses in Pakistan.(Agencies)

Talks can begin soon if Pak reins in militants: Nambiar

ISLAMABAD, Feb 21: India has said peace talks with Pakistan could begin in the near future if New Delhi got concrete evidence of a commitment from Islamabad to rein in militants indulging in violent activities in Kashmir.

"The dialogue can start in near future, provided India gets a concrete evidence of a commitment that Pakistani authorities will control terrorism," Indian High Commissioner Vijay Nambiar told `The News’ daily in an interview.

Asked whether crackdown on militants was a pre-condition set by India to resume talks, Nambiar replied in the negative.

The militant groups in the past have acted as "levers in the hands of those who want to use them as leverage. With this happening it became difficult to proceed further.

"(But) if you do not proceed further then it becomes one more hurdle," he said adding that in order to start a fresh process it becomes necessary to overcome such hurdles.

On the ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir, Nambiar said its extension could be termed as a "logical follow-through" of India’s peace initiative, "depending upon the larger situation on the ground."

He said the prime reason why the talks remained a non-starter was the sharp increase in violence perpetrated by Pakistan-based militant groups.

"The sharp increase in the activities of some militant groups, operating from here, has vitiated the atmosphere that is little different from the time of extension of ceasefire last time," he said.

He said the incidents of violence were on the rise ever since the attack on the Red Fort. In fact "there has been a slight deterioration of the atmosphere."

When referred to Pakistani military ruler Gen Pervez Musharraf’s statements expressing optimism about the resumption of Indo-Pak dialogue, Nambiar said "there are similar sentiments" on the Indian side "to develop a dialogue process based on enlarging our area of understanding and building a relationship afresh."

When told that Gen Musharraf would not derail the peace process if Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee engaged him directly, the Indian envoy said "if and when the negotiations start, they will naturally have the dynamism of their own since people at the highest level will be putting their political credibility at stake in terms of pushing the peace forward."

Asked whether the talks could begin where Vajpayee and the then Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had left, he shot back asking: "Can we get back to the situation after what has happened between Lahore and now? a breach of confidence has taken place and that needs to be corrected."

When asked if he referred to the Kargil episode, Nambiar said "in a sense yes" and added "and there has to be a realisation whether it was a miscalculation or an error."

India, he said, was not looking backward "if we can look forward in a way that the Indian leadership get some confidence, in the sense that the problems being created by the militant groups are going to be stopped."

Asked about the assessment of the Indian military commanders who have reportedly stated that there was a marked decrease in the incidents of infiltration during the ceasefire, Nambiar said the level of infiltration has fallen. "But it has not stopped."

"Some militant groups have been conducting dramatic acts to frighten local population and the groups who disagree with them. Their objective is to intimidate other political actors in Jammu and Kashmir and sidetrack the political process," he said.

Asked why India had not permitted Hurriyat leaders to visit Pakistan despite repeated appeals by Islamabad, he said "the visit was considered but the Hurriyat has gone through the tribulations over the objective of the exercise.

"Even the Hurriyat leaders should understand that this kind of an absence of congruence is also hindering their visit."

Nambiar said Hurriyat leaders’ visit has become less relevant after the heightening in militant activities that have sought to distract the agenda.

Asked why "marginal elements" were allowed to distract the agenda, he said India "will not accept a threat to normal conditions in Jammu and Kashmir." (PTI)