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Sushma blames ISLAMABAD, July 20: Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj, who was criticised by Pakistan President and the media for......more UK
hopeful of LONDON, July 20: Despite an abrupt end to the India-Pakistan summit at Agra, Britain has said "there are some encouraging signs" for resumption of ....more Sanctions
can’t WASHINGTON, July 20: The United States has made it clear that sanctions imposed on Pakistan in the ninetees cannot be lifted until democracy. .....more |
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India yet to attain WASHINGTON, July 20: Despite massive investments and a huge infrastructure, India is yet to attain self-sufficiency in defence production and it will take years for the country .......more Musharraf unveils ISLAMABAD, July 20: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf today unveiled what Islamabad claimed was the "world’s first Main Battle Tank (MBT) of the millennium" built in collaboration with China saying the ......more I was the first to salute ISLAMABAD, July 20: Putting an end to a long-drawn controversy, Pakistan President Pervez...more |
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Sushma blames Musharraf for "derailing" Agra summit ISLAMABAD, July 20: Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj, who was criticised by Pakistan President and the media for "selective" briefing on the Agra summit, has blamed General Pervez Musharraf for "derailing" the talks with his much-publicised telecast of the breakfast meeting with Indian editors on July 16. Mincing no words, Swaraj firmly told a Pakistani daily in an interview published today that it was not she but Musharraf who is to be blamed for it. "These were not my remarks to news-hunting television channels which spoilt things at Agra. Things were derailed the moment the video recording of General Sahib’s tough talk to a group of senior editors was instantly made available to all TV channels of the world, who took no time in airing them.", she said. ‘The News’ daily quoted her as saying that the meetings like the one Musharraf had with editors were generally kept off the record. "That helps concealing the unpleasant things from public." Swaraj told the daily that the Indian media initially was not in favour of the Indian Government to invite Musharraf. "Let me start by revealing to you that most of the newspapers were really upset when our Prime Minister invited your President for a summit in May. Column after column was coming everyday, wondering as to why Vajpayee Ji has invited Musharraf Sahib, who did Kargil to us," Swaraj said. "I personally approached almost each senior journalist and columnist to make them appreciate that after inviting the general, for the good or bad reasons, it now has become India’s responsibility to make the summit a success. To all of them, I referred to the remarks of an illiterate woman from the desert of Rajasthan. Her son was killed in Kargil. But, when some reporters approached her for comments over Musharraf’s coming, she just said: ‘It is with enemies in the end that you have to negotiate peace.’" (PTI) |
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UK hopeful of resumption of Indo-Pak dialogue LONDON, July 20: Despite an abrupt end to the India-Pakistan summit at Agra, Britain has said "there are some encouraging signs" for resumption of dialogue between New Delhi and Islamabad. "We are hopeful the talks will continue and there are some encouraging signs," a spokesman for British Foreign and Colmmonwealth Office told PTI yesterday. Noting that Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee accepted the invitation of Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf to visit Islamabad, he said, "besides, there is a possibility of the two leaders meeting in New York in September when they travel to the US to attend the UN Annual General Assembly session." Meanwhile, JKLF president in UK and Europe Shabir Choudary said his party was not against the summit. "It was important for Pakistan and India to sit down and sort out their bilateral problems including economic and trade. But as far as Kashmir is concerned, it is not bilateral. There has to be a tripartite meeting - India, Pakistan and leadership of Kashmir," he said. "Unless and until we are part of the dialogue process, there could be no solution to the Kashmir dispute and there could be no peace and stability in the region." "Kashmiri people feel that Musharraf has let them down. It was the Kashmiri people who were first invited to have a dialogue with India. We refused because Kashmir issue could only be resolved by trilateral talks. We entertain this idea because of what they called `cross border terrorism’ and undemocratic nature of the Musharraf regime. At that time, Pakistan Government fully supported tripartite talks and Hurriyat leadership and requests were made to see that we stand by with this decision," Choudhry said. "Despite all pressures, we honoured our commitment but when Musharraf was invited he forgot about the tripartite nature of the talks and Kashmiri leadership." He said one of the reasons why the summit ended abruptly was because "there was not enough home-work done before it." (PTI) |
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Sanctions can’t go till democracy is restored: US to Pak WASHINGTON, July 20: The United States has made it clear that sanctions imposed on Pakistan in the ninetees cannot be lifted until democracy is restored in that country. Addressing a news conference for the first time since assuming office yesterday, Christina Rocca, Assistant Secretary in Charge of South Asia in the State Department, said Section 508 of the sanctions on Pakistan could not be lifted until President Bush is able to certify that democracy is restored. There is no waiver authority for the President under this relevant section on sanctions, she said. Ms Rocca, who was briefing newspersons about her coming visit to India, Pakistan and Nepal from tomorrow, said she would be taking up with the Pakistani leaders the issue of restoration of democracy. "We have had an assurance from Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf that there will be elections in 2002 and we will be talking to the Government to ensure that these are held as per schedule," Ms Rocca said. She said the United States would continue to press for peaceful restoration of democracy in Pakistan. About whether Pakistan will be discriminated against by the United States on the question of lifting of sanctions, the Assistant Secretary described as a mere speculation that one country or the other would be behind on the question of lifting of sanctions. The state department, she said, is undertaking two sets of reviews on sanctions. One is an overall sanctions review to look at the usefulness of sanctions and then there is a separate one on India-Pakistan sanctions. "Pressler is one of those that is part of the review. And so it is premature to say whether one country or the other would benefit or not benefit from lifting of sanctions," she said. The Pressler Amendment was enacted against Pakistan in early nineties when the US denied Islamabad supply of F-16 planes until the President could certify Pakistan has no nuclear capability. (UNI) |
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India yet to attain self-sufficiency in defence: Report WASHINGTON, July 20: Despite massive investments and a huge infrastructure, India is yet to attain self-sufficiency in defence production and it will take years for the country to achieve an "acceptable" degree of self-reliance in defence supplies, says a recent US report on India’s defence production capability and standards. The report, prepared as a part of the director of central intelligence strategic estimates programme, says: "In spite of the fact that India has a large, established and diverse defence industry, she has not yet been able to create the capabilities that would allow her to shift to indigenous development. India’s goal is not self-sufficiency... But self-reliance." "To Indian leaders, the most important aspects of self-reliance are the ability to field weapons manufactured locally, and to provide for security of supply of spare parts and components", it says. Quoting Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s Principal Scientific Advisor A P J Abdul Kalam, the report says it will take India "10 years to achieve an `acceptable’ degree of self-reliance in defence supplies". India, says the report, does not have a robust technological development programme that identifies future technologies that will be available for incorporation into armaments. The report also analyses three of India’s biggest defence projects - the Prithvi Missile, the Arjun Main Battle Tank (MBT) and the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA). (PTI) |
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Musharraf unveils Pak’s
MBT, promises ISLAMABAD, July 20: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf today unveiled what Islamabad claimed was the "world’s first Main Battle Tank (MBT) of the millennium" built in collaboration with China saying the country cannot lower its guard and must keep a "desired detterent" against "misadventures" of its "adversaries". Flagging off the first batch of 15 newly built MBTs, named Al-Khalid, Musharraf said Pakistan worked for peace and tranquillity. "This, however, cannot be at the cost of security. We cannot lower our guard and most have the desired detterent against misadventures by our adversaries. My Government would provide all the resources to ensure a strong defence for a stable Pakistan." He said, the newly built "indigenous" MBT could be matched only by the German Leopards. "With the highest power to weight ratio in the world, Al-Khalid has ability that can be matched only by the German Leopard. "Its ability to automatically track targets, similarly, is available only on the French Leclerc. With hunter killer day-night sight and a state of the art fire control system, Al-Khalid is truly a world class tank," he said. While decribing the features of the newly built tank, the Chairman of the Pakistan’s ordinance factory, Heavy Industries Taxila (HIT), Lt Gen Hamid Javed claimed that Al-Khalid was the world’s "first MBT of new millennium." Lt Gen Javed said the tank was built within eight years at a cost of 20 million dollars, compared to the Indian effort to develop MBT Arjun, which took 25 years and cost 500 million dollars. According to official statistics Pakistan has about 2300 battle tanks against India’s 3500. Musharraf, in his speech also thanked China for its cooperation and spoke about the need for synchronising the progress in the field of defence with that of economic development. "Over the years our nation has made sacrifices in the establishment of defence production facilities and it is time now that we start getting dividends by diversifying defence industry and promoting export of defence equipment. "I am very confident that the weapons and equipment produced by our defence production establishments are of high quality and are available at competitive prices," Musharraf said. Al-Khalid, according to HIT officials, is an ideal blend of mobility, firepower and protection, and its high agility and obstacle crossing capability makes it an effective weapon that can match the tactical requirements of modern warfare. The Al-Khalid MBT has one of the most powerful guns mounted on the tank, which can engage targets at long stand off distances, they claimed. The weapons are supported by a modern image stabilised fire control system with capabilities for day and night operations. The MBT is fortified by modular composite armour, which can effectively defeat the modern ammunition. (PTI) |
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I was the first to salute Vajpayee: Musharraf ISLAMABAD, July 20: Putting an end to a long-drawn controversy, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf tonight categorically stated that he was the first to salute Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee when he arrived at the Punjab Governor’s House in Lahore during the latter’s historic bus trip to Pakistan in March 1999. "I was the first to salute him when he (Vajpayee) got out of the helicopter at the Governor’s House," Musharraf, who was then only the Army chief, said "clearing" a controversy that he avoided saluting the Indian leader. Describing as "childish" the allegation that he had not saluted Vajpayee, Musharraf said, "he is 20 years older than me. What is a salute, it is like saying `Adab’. Narrating the sequence of events, Musharraf said, "all Service chiefs were asked to reach Wagah border. I told the then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif that we were in uniform and it would look very odd in the midst of so many people in civilian clothes. "I told him (Sharif) that I will receive him (Vajpayee) when he reaches the Governor House. So I did not go to Wagah. I was the first to salute him when he got down of the helicopter," he said. The Pakistani President also repeatedly told Pakistani reporters that they should talk about Vajpayee "with all respect." Musharraf said he was "offended" by a remark made in India by a lady in a TV programme whether this man (Musharraf) can be trusted, but "let us give due respect to him (Vajpayee). (PTI) |
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