Five-member delegation to accompany Pak foreign secy for talks

NEW DELHI : Pakistan Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir will be accompanied by a five-member delegation when he arrives here for talks with his Indian counterpart Nirupama Rao on February 25.

The delegation will arrive a day prior to the talks and will leave on February 26, a Pakistan High Commission source said here.

It was not clear whether the two Foreign Secretaries will do a joint media interaction after the parleys, with the current indications being that both sides would hold separate press conferences.

The source said the itinerary for the delegation was still being worked-out and at the moment no appointment at the political level including External Affairs Minister S M Krishna was fixed.

Among others, the delegation will also comprise Pakistan Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abdul Basit. (PTI)

Pandemonium breaks out in Assembly

JAMMU : Pandemonium broke out in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly today with the Opposition shouting slogans and staging a walkout during the joint address of Governor N N Vohra to the state legislature on the opening day of the Budget session.

As Vohra started his address, Opposition PDP, BJP, Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP), and Jammu State Morcha started demonstrations and sloganeering accusing the state government of failing to check deteriorating law and order condition, among other issues.

Harshdev Singh, Balwant Singh Mankotia and Yashpal Kundal of JKNPP staged a walkout in the assembly followed by 11 members of BJP.

PDP members continued their protest during the Governor’s address.

Mehbooba Mufti tried to disrupt Vohra’s speech and accused Omar Abdullah Government of arresting youth branding them as "stone pelters. The State Government has adopted a stone for bullet policy...," she said.

Harshdev Singh told reporters that "there is an increase in violence triggered by militants this year. The development is not seen any where during the period of Omar Abdullah’s rule."

The party would raise the issue of price rise, Sagir Commission report, Delimitation Commission and surrender policy on the floor of the House, he said.

BJP legislative party leader Chaman Lal Gupta alleged the state Government has failed on all fronts, including security.

"He (Omar Abdullah) failed to tackle corruption, ensure development and formulated surrender policy to bring militants from across the border into Jammu and Kashmir," Gupta said.

This is a dangerous step which will give a set back to the national security and boost terrorism in the State, he claimed.

Demanding imposition of Delimitation Commission, he said report submitted by Justice Sagir should be done away with and a new committee should be set up. (PTI)

Infiltration up but security scenario
in J&K has improved:Prez

NEW DELHI: President Pratibha Patil today said even though the infiltration of terrorists from across the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir has gone up, security situation has "significantly" improved in the state.

Addressing both the Houses of Parliament on the first day of the Budget session, Patil said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s reconstruction plan for Jammu and Kashmir has been working well.

She said construction of roads, colleges, industrial training institutes and Anganwadi centres have been taken up on an urgent basis under this initiative in J&K.

"Infiltration of terrorists from across the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir has gone up. Even then, the security situation has improved significantly in Jammu and Kashmir," Patil said.

She said an additional 500 megawatts of power has been provided to the state during the winter months.

Patil said a National Youth Corps Scheme has been introduced to enable men and women between the age group of 25 to 35 years, to serve for two years in nation-building activities.

"In the first phase, 20,000 volunteers would be deployed and they would be utilised in several creative social activities like cleaning the Dal Lake," she said. (PTI)

Take effective action against anti-India groups: Rao to Pak

LONDON : Ahead of the Indo-Pak talks this week, India today made it clear that process of normalisation of ties with Pakistan can be sustained only by effective action against groups there calling for 'jihad' against India.

"...Calls of jihad, hostility and aggression continue to be made openly against India. This reflects the real and tangible difficulties that we face in dealing with Pakistan," Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said, delivering the key note address at the 3rd International Institute of Strategic Studies-MEA Dialogue here.

She also emphasised that "effective action against such groups" by Pakistan is an "absolute must" if the process of normalisation that India desires with Pakistan was to happen.

Referring to the talks in New Delhi on Thursday with her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir, Rao said India is making "another sincere attempt" to initiate dialogue with Pakistan.

"We hope we can build, in a graduated manner, better communication and a serious and responsive dialogue to address issues of concern between our two countries," she said.

Describing terrorism as the pivotal security challenge for India, Rao said terror groups implacably opposed to India continue to recruit, train and plot attacks "from safe havens across our borders."

Terming Pakistan's steps against terrorism as "selective", Rao demanded that the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror strikes are brought to justice expeditiously and act decisively to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism on its territory.

"Under pressure and faced with the threat of terrorism in its own country, Pakistan has initiated some steps to fight this scourge. But these steps are selective," the Foreign Secretary said, adding that distinctions between Taliban, Al Qaeda and terrorist outfits such as LeT were now meaningless.

"...They are now in effect fused both operationally and ideologically. We have consistently maintained that Pakistan should bring the perpetrators of the Mumbai terrorist attack to justice and in a transparent manner," she said.

Rao also noted that terror groups implacably opposed to India continue to recruit, train and plot attacks from "safe havens across our borders."

"The greatest threat to peace and stability in our region emanates from the shelter terrorists find in the border of Afghanistan-Pakistan and in Pakistan itself," she said.

To a question on what she expected from the talks, Rao said: "I think, I should leave any comment, till after the meeting."

Asked whether Kashmir would figure at the talks, she said "the issue of Jammu and Kashmir is something we must discuss bilaterally and resolve peacefully. But at the talks our core concern is terrorism and it is essential to focus on it. We will move in a manner, slow and deliberately."

On Afghanistan, Rao said India's focus is on development activity with the aim to build indigenous Afghan capacities and institutions.

"This will enable an effective state system to improve the delivery of goods and services to Afghan people. Our assistance, now over US$ 1.3 billion, is spread over a large number of provinces in Afghanistan," she said.

To a question on clandestine activities in the neighbourhood in respect of "nuclear terrorism", Rao said India would tackle it through the UN process.

"India has initiated on the issue in cooperation with Russia. The matter has been moved to the US and US President Barack Obama is expected to endorse the initiative this year," she said.

On China, she said there is both competition and collaboration in the dynamic equilibrium of India's relationship with Beijing.

Key elements in the India-China relationship like imbalances in bilateral trade, the unresolved boundary question, our dialogue on water resources with regard to the trans-border rivers like the Brahmaputra and the Sutlej point to the complex and evolving nature of our dialogue, she said.

"In our own region, which remains geo-politically unstable, China has an enduring strategic relationship with Pakistan, and a growing presence in other neighbouring countries.

Rao said: "We are conscious of these leverages that China has developed in our region and realize fully that our relations with China cannot be uni-dimensional, or seen through a narrow prism."

On Sri Lanka, Rao said India's political relations are close, trade and investment have increased exponentially, and there is broad-based engagement across all sectors of bilateral cooperation.

"We view the conclusion of the military operations against the LTTE as providing an opportunity to finally achieve a lasting political settlement acceptable to all communities, including the Tamils, within a united Sri Lanka," she said.

On Bangaldesh, she said India's relations with Bangladesh have acquired further substance and scope in recent months, particularly after the very successful visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to India in January this year.

"Our security related cooperation has developed positively as also our cooperation in infrastructural development in Bangladesh, for which we have announced a USD 1 billion concessional Line of Credit," she said. (PTI)

JK coming back to normalcy: Governor

JAMMU : Welcoming the Foreign Secretary-level dialogue between India and Pakistan, Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra today said the State is slowly coming back to peace and normalcy.

"To restore complete peace and normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir, it is essential that process of (Indo-Pak) dialogue be resumed...The state Government welcomes the projected discussions between the Foreign Secretaries of Indian and Pakistan," Vohra told a joint session of the State Assembly ahead of the budget session.

"After more than two decades of militancy-related violence and terrorism, there is a palpable yearning for peace across all sections of the society in the State," he said.

There is significant reduction in terrorist incidents in the State in 2009, Vohra said.

"There were 499 terror incidents last year as compared to 708 in 2008 and 1,092 in 2007," he said.

"This trend clearly shows that situation is improving significantly...It indicates a return of normalcy in the State," he said.

However, there is an increase in infiltration attempts into the State from across the LoC and International Border during 2009 and in the month of January 2010, Vohra said.

While effective initiatives has been taken against militants, the Government is clear that all the action taken should be in conformity with the law, he said.

The zero tolerance policy of Government has ensured that there is much greater respect for human rights and that prompt action is taken whenever violations occur, Vohra said.

On Kashmiri pandits issue, he said the Centre has approved a Rs 1,618.40-crore package for their safe return to the valley and rehabilitation.

As many as 3,000 posts have been created for them in various Government departments and work on the new township at Jagti in Jammu district, where 4,218 flats for Kashmiri migrants are under construction, is at an advanced stage of completion, he said.

The Government has also initiated many projects to create employment opportunities and enable skill upgrading for about five lakh educated youth over the next five years, he said.

The Government has also initiated various developmental projects in power, transport and tourism sectors.

The number of tourist arrivals in the State during 2009, including pilgrims, was 92.89 lakh, which represents a marked increase of about 15.95 lakh over the previous year.

Meanwhile, the Opposition PDP, BJP, Jammu and Kashmir Nationalist Panthers Party (JKNPP) and Jammu State Morcha (JSM) staged walkout to disrupt the Governor's Joint Address. (PTI)