Summer guests to break ice, Pak MP team expected soon

Parliamentarians from India and Pakistan will give sub-continental peace a shot in the arm when they cross the land frontier at Attari-Wagah...

Parliamentarians from India and Pakistan will give sub-continental peace a shot in the arm when they cross the land frontier at Attari-Wagah over the next few weeks, with the Pakistani group expected to arrive here on May 8.

Although the final programme still remains to be finalised, the 10-12 Pakistani MPs are hoping to meet Prime Minister Vajpayee, deputy PM L.K. Advani, Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha and Speaker Manohar Joshi.

MEA sticks to precondition, Samata wants PM’s word

NEW DELHI: Islamabad’s initiatives to end cross-border terrorism will continue to remain the key marker for New Delhi even as frigid bilateral ties received a fresh lease of life when prime ministers of both countries held a telephonic conversation on Monday. South Block officials added that Pakistan will have to take definite steps on the ground to end cross-border terrorism. An MEA spokesperson made it clear it was important for Pakistan to end cross-border terrorism if a favourable atmosphere has to created. ‘‘The intention of course is to create a conducive atmosphere which necessarily requires an end to cross-border terrorism and the dismantling of terrorist infrastructure and the telephone conversation, we hope, will contribute to that end,’’ he said. He, however, added that while both leaders touched upon several aspects of bilateral relations, formal agenda-setting had not yet begun. Meanwhile, chinks appeared in the NDA on PM’s offer of talks with Samata joining the Opp in LS in seeking a statement from Vajpayee. Samata MP Prabhunath Singh said: ‘‘We are not against talks but there must be some basis for it…We want to know how the situation has changed, what is the new development that has prompted Vajpayee to initiate peace talks.” (ENS)

MP and well-known journalist Kuldip Nayar said he hit upon the idea to organise a larger group when he crossed the border to visit Pakistan a few months ago. Nayar met Pakistani PM Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali and Pakistani Foreign Minister Kasuri on his visit.

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Since the attack on Parliament on December 13, 2001, New Delhi has hardly allowed any Pakistani citizens to visit India on the grounds that cross-border terrorism must first end.

SAARC parliamentarians, however, cannot be bound by such a directive. The SAARC charter allow them to cross borders without a visa or even the displeasure of their governments.

According to Nayar, the Pakistani group wanted to visit India before the end of the current Parliament session (it ends on May 9). They will be in India for a week and will also visit Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Kolkata.

Nayar’s ‘‘India-Pakistan Dosti Manch’’ as well as Mubashir Hussain’s ‘‘India-Pakistan Reconciliation group’’ in Pakistan are said to be the prime movers of this journey.

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