Indo-Pak Spring 8217;99

The Kashmir proposalTrue to the history of using matrimonial alliances for peace between warring groups, a Pakistani woman novelist has o...

The Kashmir proposal

True to the history of using matrimonial alliances for peace between warring groups, a Pakistani woman novelist has offered to marry India8217;s most eligible bachelor, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, if he agrees to settle the Kashmir issue on Pakistani terms. Largest circulated urdu daily Jang quoted the 37-year old novelist Atia Shamshad as saying she likes Vajpayee, 74, because he has initiated talks on Kashmir and is willing to improve relations with Pakistan. Shamshad said she had done her PhD in chemistry in 1992 and was 8220;ready for a new chemistry in relationship8221; if the Indian Prime Minister 8220;agrees to settle the Kashmir issue on the basis of Pakistani stand point8221;. The paper quoted her as saying that like Vajpayee she was yet to marry. She has penned novels and also produced a serial for Pakistan TV but she wants 8220;only Kashmir, only Kashmir.8221;

Bangladesh is pleased

Bangladesh hailed Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee8217;s historic visit to Pakistan andexpressed the hope that the trip would lead to friendship between India and Pakistan and stability in South Asia. 8220;The Indian Prime Minister8217;s bus ride to Pakistan is viewed with great satisfaction here,8221; Bangladesh Minister of State of Foreign Affairs Abul Hassan Chowdhury said.

8220;In both the capitals, we urge them to continue and enhance economic cooperation. This was also the decision of the business summit held in Dhaka in January 1998 at the initiative of Premier Sheikh Hasina,8221; Chowdhury said. 8220;We as a friend of both India and Pakistan wish the development all success.8221;

Badal8217;s homecoming

Punjab Chief minister Parkash Singh Badal called on the Chief Minister of Pakistan8217;s Punjab province Shahbaz Sharif and suggested greater cultural and sporting contacts between the two countries, with the two states playing a lead role in initiating such efforts. Badal, who had a breakfast meeting with Shahbaz Sharif, the brother of Premier Nawaz Sharif, at his official residence, also raised theissue of maintenance of Sikh shrines in Pakistan and offered the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee8217;s assistance in the task. The Punjab chief minister who studied in F.C. College, Lahore, recalled his student days in the city and described his journey to Pakistan as an 8220;emotional homecoming8221;.