BJP gives caution on resuming Indo-Pak talks

New Delhi, Sep 17: BJP President Rajnath Singh today said India should move with ''double caution'' on the resumption of the composite dialogue with Pakistan, suspended following the 7/11 train blasts in Mumbai.

Mr Singh, in a statement here today, said there is a total dis-connect between the UPA Government and the popular public opinion on the terror attacks in different parts of the country.

He said this may create an impression that the government has ''forgotten the faces of the terror victims of Mumbai blasts and elsewhere so soon.'' The proposed joint mechanism to fight terrorism appears to a fig-leaf to cover the concessions made to Islamabad with regard to the resumption of the talks, the BJP president said.

He alleged that the Government was playing musical chairs on the issue, as the talks put on hold consequent to recurring terror attacks resumed after a short-while. ''This does not match the ground reality,'' Mr Singh said.

The BJP president said Pakistan Presient Pervez Musharraf had given a ''clear-cut promise'' to then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in January, 2004 not to permit the use of Pakistan's territory for launching terrorist attacks against India. ''The promise was violated umpteen times. Even during the last two years such commitments had been given to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh but the terror attacks did not come to a halt.'' The Vajpayee government had started a dialogue with Pakistan only after a commitment from Gen Musharraf, but the UPA Government is resuming the dialogue process in the face of growing terrorist violence. ''Is this being done to please some unseen forces or some coalition partners - specially the Left?,'' he asked.

''The trust-deficit between the two neighbours on terror continues as before,'' he said.

Pakistan must match its commitment to dialogue by ''positive action'' against the terror network operating from its soil, Mr Singh asserted.

On Siachen and Sir Creek, the BJP President said any negotiations or survey should take into account the security aspects, which are crucial to such dialogues.

The government should take the opposition and Parliament into confidence before proceeding with any negotiations on Jammu and Kashmir. The government should also keep in mind that there is a unanimous Parliament resolution on J and K, Mr Singh added.

UNI