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Politics : America Under Siege: The End of Innocence -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: joseph krinsky who wrote (10038)	11/7/2001 1:50:36 PM
From: Lola	Respond to of 27666

Putin sees India’s point on Kashmir DILEEP PADGAONKAR TIMES NEWS NETWORK MOSCOW: It was in a distinctly upbeat mood that Prime Minister Vajpayee concluded his visit to Russia Wednesday. Addressing a news conference before leaving for Washington, a visibly satisfied Vajpayee announced that India and Russia have taken ‘‘important decisions in the security area’’. He said, however, it would not be appropriate at this stage to say anything about the substance of these decisions. Vajpayee’s remarks revealed that on critical issues such as international terrorism, the situation in Afghanistan, Kashmir and talks with Pakistan, India and Russia had reached a much greater degree of understanding than was evident from the joint statement issued by the two sides Tuesday. The PM said President Putin agreed that the 6+2 mechanism, set up to deal with the situation in Afghanistan, needed to be expanded to include India. The Russian president, Vajpayee added, would raise the matter with other world leaders. Vajpayee said that to be effective, the bombings in Afghanistan, which India endorsed, needed to be supplemented with the engagement of ground troops. He said India was prepared to extend tangible cooperation to the United States but that, so far, the latter has not asked for any cooperation, even in areas which have been identified. Vajpayee said India and Russia both agreed that the fight against terrorism could not be conducted on the basis of ‘‘double standards’’. According to a statement released before the news conference, both sides rejected any justification for terrorism. ‘‘Partial solutions, based on short-term political considerations, can only aggravate the problem in the long-run,’’ the statement added. In this context, the PM revealed Putin had endorsed the Indian stand that talks with Pakistan cannot be resumed unless it created a conducive atmosphere to hold them. Vajpayee said violence has been stepped up in Kashmir, cross-border terrorism has increased and innocents have been killed. ‘‘In these circumstances, it is not possible to talk.’’ He said all countries agreed with India that you cannot hold talks just for the sake of talks or conduct a public relations exercise without a clear agenda. Vajpayee said India and Russia have agreed to diversify their trade relations. They are exploring ways in which the release of the Rupee Repayment Fund would be used, for example to modernise the Indian Iron and Steel Company, which, in turn, would generate greater demand for capital equipment from Russia. Vajpayee’s remarks appeared to be laying the ground for his talks with President Bush in Washington. Meanwhile, according to Indian officials who spoke to Times News Network, the Enron Company has been mounting a vigorous lobbying effort. This could introduce a jarring note in the Vajpayee-Bush discussions, not the least because India is determined to strongly counter the Enron offensive. timesofindia.com