Namibia backs India, asks Pak to pull out

NEW DELHI, JULY 21: Namibia on Wednesday backed India's stand on Kargil and asked Pakistan to pull out its remaining forces from Indian t...

NEW DELHI, JULY 21: Namibia on Wednesday backed India8217;s stand on Kargil and asked Pakistan to pull out its remaining forces from Indian territory and resume negotiations with New Delhi for a peaceful solution on the issue.

The Namibian view was conveyed by President Sam Nujoma during wide-ranging discussions with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee soon after his arrival here on a three-day state visit.

Nujoma, who was apprised by Vajpayee on the Kargil situation and New Delhi8217;s resolute steps to evict Pakistani intruders from the Indian side of the Line of Control LoC, showed quot;complete understandingquot; of India8217;s stand, official sources said.

The Namibian leader also held a separate meeting with External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh and discussed issues of international, regional and mutual concern.

Earlier, Nujoma, accompanied by his wife Kovambo, was accorded a ceremonial reception at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan.

He was was warmly received by President K R Narayanan, First Lady UshaNarayanan, Vajpayee, Home Minister L K Advani and Jaswant Singh.

Asked what was Namibia8217;s stand on the Kargil issue, Nujoma said, quot;We urge Pakistan to withdraw its troops from Indian territory and enter into immediate negotiations to find a peaceful solution.quot;

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quot;We want peace to prevail so that we can concentrate on economic development. Whether it is Asia or Africa, we want all the countries to live peacefully so that they could lay emphasis on developmental work,quot; he stressed.

Nujoma said his country had a lot to learn from India which had now become a quot;superpowerquot;.

This was due to the planning process set in motion by leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Lal Bahadur Shastri, he said.

The importance of Namibia, which traditionally enjoys close relations with India, has been enhanced with its current non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council for the period of January 1999 to December 2000.

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Significantly, the African group of countries has endorsed the candidature of NamibianForeign Minister Theo-ben Gurirab as the next president of the UN General Assembly as it is the turn of Africa to occupy this high office. Election of Gurirab to this coveted post, slated for next month, is only a formality.

Nujoma8217;s visit is part of sustained high-level contacts between the two countries. Vajpayee had visited Namibia last year in August when a protocol was signed on foreign office consultations.

India was among the first countries to recognise the South West African Peoples Organisation SWAPO as the sole representative of the people of Namibia and allowed it to open office in New Delhi with full diplomatic privileges and status.

New Delhi has also extended diplomatic, moral and material support to Namibia8217;s freedom struggle till independence of the country from the apartheid regime of South Africa in 1990.