Vajpayee turns down Clinton8217;s invitation

8220;Any proposal for a supervised withdrawal by the US or even the UN Military Observer Group for India and Pakistan UNMOGIP is a non-starter,8221; the sources said.

They added emphatically, 8220;Pakistan has to withdraw first and unilaterally. There is no question of any third party looking on. Meanwhile, our operations will continue.8221;

Officialsources, denying that Clinton8217;s invitation to Vajpayee could be construed as 8220;third-party mediation8221;, said it was a 8220;bilateral one and had no connection with the visit of Nawaz Sharif to Washington.8221;

8220;The US President invited Vajpayee to consider a visit to Washington, to which Vajpayee replied in the negative, saying it was not convenient to come at this juncture,8221; the sources said. The call lasted for 10 minutes. Its purpose was to brief Vajpayee about Sharif8217;s visit there on Sunday, they added.

But New Delhi, ever sensitive to comments that the US is playing an increasingly dominant role in the resolution of this conflict, seems to have been averse to the idea of Vajpayee going to Washington when Sharif is there.Clearly, though, India and the US seem to be moving closer on their shared perception of the Kargil conflict. Officials here, applauding the pressure Washington has been putting on Islamabad so far, admit it will be 8220;a paradigm shift8221; in the bilateral relationship if the US manages topull off a withdrawal from the across the LoC.

Even official sources, usually cautious to the end, today described Indo-US ties as 8220;something decisively different, as compared to earlier. Both are large democracies, which share a mutuality of interests,8221; they said.Meanwhile in Washington, US National Security Council spokesman P J Crowley said Sharif had called Clinton on Saturday to discuss the Kargil situation and requested a one-on-one meeting.

8220;Sharif had requested the meeting and I would assume he is bringing some ideas on how to resolve the current situation,8221; Crowley said. Sharif8217;s overnight flight to Washington 8212; till Friday Islamabad had not officially confirmed the trip though Pakistan army chief Pervez Musharraf had last week announced that Sharif had sought a meeting with Clinton 8212; seems to be a last-ditch effort to persuade the US to intervene and bring an end to the conflict.

Pakistani foreign office spokesman in Islamabad Tariq Altaf said he was confident Clinton had a particularrole to play, adding that the Clinton-Sharif meeting will be extremely productive.

Increasingly isolated 8211; even old friend China has asked Islamabad to respect the LoC 8211; and with the threat of the IMF loan withdrawal hanging over Pakistan8217;s head, Sharif clearly seems to be at the crossroads. His meeting with Clinton at this juncture, with the Indian Army having retaken Tiger Hills today, could also include a request to the US to revive a face-saving package for Pakistan.

On the other hand, the recapture of Tiger Hills has clearly boosted the morale of the Government and it seems New Delhi is in no mood to relent, leave alone bargain. Asked if the Government would now consider some sort of a face-saving package to end the conflict, the official spokesman said, 8220;Basically it is their problem, not ours. The bottomline is that the Pakistani intruders have to go back.8221;

Pakistan8217;s call for a 8220;dialogue8221;, the spokesman added, is a 8220;blatant attempt to obscure, conceal and divert attention from these factsand to buy time. This is another instance of sophistry in keeping with Pakistan8217;s long-standing deception and propaganda, passing itself off as 8220;reasonable8221; and peace-loving when in fact it is responsible for deliberate, planned aggression8230; there is not the slightest sign on the ground that Pakistan is taking the necessary steps for withdrawal.8221;

Meanwhile, observers in Washington, pointing to the fact that the Clinton-Sharif meeting was taking place on July 4, America8217;s Independence Day, said it reflected the 8220;urgency8221; the US was attaching to the resolution of this conflict. Normally no business is transacted on this day.