Singh reminds Jaswant of his Kandahar package, says BJP playing politics

‘‘All those who are concerned have an obligation,’’ Singh told reporters accompanying him to London for the G-8 summit at Gleneagles in Scotland.

‘‘The terror attack in the makeshift Ram temple in Ayodhya was a major incident and there was no doubt that the infrastructure for terrorism (in Pakistan) is by and large intact,’’ Singh, who has since arrived in London, said.

‘‘Both President Musharraf and I have committed ourselves in the joint statement to make the peace process irreversible. I sincerely hope the commitment is honoured. The major element in this is that terrorism should be under control,’’ Singh said.

‘‘Anything that came in the way of public opinion — certainly these incidents, (if) they get repeated — has the potential to disrupt the peace process. All concerned have a commitment to make it irreversible,’’ he said.

The Prime Minister rejected the BJP’s demand for Home Minister Shivraj Patil’s resignation over the Ayodhya incident, saying ‘‘by that logic, BJP President L K Advani, who was the presiding deity in the Home Ministry when terror attacks occurred in Chittisinghpura, Akshardham, Jammu and Kashmir Assembly and Parliament should have resigned many times.’’

Asked if terrorist elements were going out of control in Pakistan, he said it was too early to say. ‘‘We have to deliberate upon all the evidence.’’ He declined to elaborate on the terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan saying, ‘‘I do not want to go into details.’’

The Prime Minister said he did not have any discussions with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf after the Ayodhya incident. Minister for External Affairs K Natwar Singh met Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz in Kazakhstan yesterday. ‘‘I do not know whether at that time the Ayodhya incident had taken place,’’ Singh said.

The Prime Minister said there was no security lapse at Ayodhya and there were intelligence reports which had warned that terrorists would strike at religious places. ‘‘In fact the security forces deserve to be complimented for the manner in which they dealt with the situation,’’ he said.

Criticising the BJP for trying to get political mileage out of the incident, Singh said, ‘‘We (Congress) never used these terrorist incidents to score some cheap political points as the BJP was doing. The BJP has no real issue and they are searching for issues.’’ He said it was quite regrettable that the demand for the resignation of the Home Minister should come from BJP leader Jaswant Singh, who as External Affairs Minister ‘‘escorted Maulana Masood Azhar, a dreaded terrorist, to the safety of Kandahar’’.

Asked if he agreed with the BJP’s view that the incident was an attack on the Hindu faith, he said ‘‘any attack on places of worship is an insult to humanity. As human beings we should all be concerned.’’

Asked who gained from such terror attacks, Singh said ‘‘it benefits those who do not want the peace process to go on.’’ He, however, added that progress had been made in the Indo-Pak composite dialogue, people-to-people contact, Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service and the India-Iran gas pipeline.

‘‘India and Pakistan were also trying to find practical and effective solutions to the Siachen and Sir Creek problems,’’ he said. At the same time ‘‘I do not say everything is rosy’’ in Indo-Pak relations, he said.

About his visit to the US in the third week of July, Singh said he was not going there with a begging bowl or to get a deal but to make the US authorities understand the aspirations of the Indian people.

‘‘Our relationship with the US is quite good,’’ said Singh. ‘‘Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee had very successful meetings with US authorities recently.’’ ‘‘But the interpretation in media about the Indo-US framework agreement was wide off the mark. It is a commitment to engagement. I don’t see any harm coming out of this engagement. We have not surrendered our sovereignty,’’ the PM said. – PTI