Q. When are you going to talk with your Pakistani counterpart, Mr. Sartaj Aziz; What time frame are we looking at, within when we can expect dialogue? A. I think it is a matter not of any principle. It is a matter of the convenience of diaries and the two Ministries are engaged in finding the most convenient dates. Q. Can we expect it at the earliest possible, given the escalation? A. As soon as both diaries find convenience; it will take place. Q. Can we say that within the next week? A. Then you are preempting what the two Ministries are doing. Q. What is the message that we are trying to send out to Pakistan through talks like this? A. I think that is a fair question. I really look at it as an opportunity to convey to my distinguished colleague from Pakistan the sense of outrage that India has because what we are experiencing is an armed intrusion amounting to aggression and I wish to communicate that to him at first hand. I do also want to tell him categorically that Indians have right of self-defence and all actions are taking place on the Indian side of the Line of Control. Therefore the only solution to the problem is restoration of status quo ante. Q. Do you believe that the Pakistanis are ready for that kind of discussion given the fact that they were the aggressors, ones who violated the Line of Control? A. It is their problem, not my problem. They expressed the desire to talk. His Excellency the Prime Minister of Pakistan has in three or four conversations with Prime Minister of India communicated precisely that request. If they have difficulties, they have to be resolved by Pakistan. Q. International opinion, general feeling is that Pakistan has been determined to internationalise the issue. What kind of support have you received? Are you satisfied that even countries like America have gone out of their ways to say that it was Pakistan who must watch their ways. A. In the realm of defence and foreign policies, the only criteria is stated objective. If the stated objective of Pakistan was through this misadventure to do what you call internationalise, then objectively it is clear that they have failed. There is not one single country, we are not referring to P-5 only, that has not unequivocally said that this is an issue that must be resolved bilaterally between India and Pakistan. It is an issue that we will not permit to be internationalised, not taken up in United Nations. You said even America. Under these circumstances, an invitation to me to visit Beijing has been repeated and I am now due to visit Beijing in the middle of this month. Q. What happens to Foreign Secretary level talks, the dialogue with Pakistan. There is a general feeling that three months after the Lahore Declaration, Pakistan creates, what has now been described as a 'war like situation'. Does it not reflect a failure of Lahore Declaration? A. It does not. It is not a failure. Agreements like the Shimla Agreement, the Lahore Agreement are set in motion as declaration of intent, of peace and lasting amity between our two nations. But such agreements or declarations can only function if the two sides adhere to them and respect them and if two sides do not adhere and do not give them respect unilaterally, they cannot be upheld. It does not defeat the purpose of the agreements. Q. What is the use of agreements when one side is not adhering, whether it is Shimla Agreement, Lahore Declaration? Pakistan has violated it blatantly. Is it of any use to hold on to such agreements? Why not admit that perhaps we were misled by Pakistan? A. It would be an admission which would be an error because you are misleading the larger strategic purpose of amity between the peoples of the two countries. You cannot permit the defeat of a larger strategic purpose because tactically an aberration has risen in the situation. Defeat the aberration not the substance. Q. You are not just a Foreign Minister. You have been a security expert. You have written on security issues. Would you agree that an operation of this kind could not have been planned only in the last couple of months and that even before the Lahore Declaration, it was well planned and Mr. Nawaz Sharif was fully in the know of it? A. As to the principle part of it, that such an operation would have required planning, I say yes that it cannot be done without planning. We have said so. I have said so categorically that such an operation in planning, in execution, in the support that it requires, cannot be done without the direct support of the Pakistani armed forces. That is a reality which has to be accepted. As to the time that it has taken, that is a speculation. As to what happens inside the Pakistani Government that is for Pakistani Government to reflect upon. Q. But diplomatic initiatives apart, are we in, Mr. Jaswant Singh, for a long haul. Do we have to accept that this is not something which is going to be sorted out in a week or perhaps even in ten days time. We are in for a long haul both on the battle front and diplomatically. A. I think if good sense prevails on Pakistan and status quo ante is restored, then your assumption will not be upheld. It is really entirely upto Pakistan to realise as quickly as possible that this misadventure has failed and the earlier the status quo ante is restored, the better for both the countries. Q. Some would say that the propaganda machine of Pakistan has worked overtime. Today also they have accused us of firing across the Line of Control and killing school children. Is that something we have not been able to counter. They have dictated the terms and we have been reactive. A. I would not agree to that. It is an opinion that you hold, it is an opinion that you are giving voice to based on a completely fallacious story. I have been an army man and I say this as an army man that the armed forces of India simply do not attack civilian targets. Q. Looking at the overall situation in the sub continent, what does Kargil mean both for your foreign policy and for sub continent virtually a year after the two countries went nuclear. A. No I think so far as the larger question of the success of the foreign policy goes, you have just earlier asked me about the international support that India has received in this case. It is a kind of international support that we have not witnessed for decades. As far as the policy with the neighbourhood goes, I don't think that it has been called into question at all. On 19th June, we launch the Calcutta-Dhaka bus service. The aberration of Kargil should not mislead us into thinking that aberrations define policy. They do not. Q. One last issue I would like to ask as Jaswant Singh wearing the military man's hat, and not necessarily the Foreign Minister. Is there any danger of this conflict escalating and the war like situation becoming an actual war? A. Thank you. I have never stopped being a soldier. As far as we are concerned, India is concerned, there is no cause for anyone to worry about escalation. Q. You don't see Pakistan trying to escalate the situation. A. I don't see why. I don't see how. I can only go by stated intention. |
