Author: Shibi Alex Chandy
Publication: The Economic Times
Date: September 13, 2002
Introduction: Drives home India's
point to President of EU & Denmark PM at UN General assembly
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee
has begun India's offensive against 'Pakistan backed terror' on the sidelines
of the 57th session of the UN General Assembly here.
Kicking off a series of bilateral
meetings with Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the prime minister of Denmark, which
currently holds the presidency of the EU, Mr Vajpayee stressed on Wednesday
that the efforts being made to combat terror should not be weakened.
Mr Vajpayee, who is here on a six-day
visit to address the General Assembly, met with Rasmussen on a day that
saw America grieving the dead of the September 11 terror attacks in New
York, Washington, DC, and Pennsylvania last year. Over 2,800 people died
in the attacks.
At the meeting, which lasted 30
minutes, Mr Rasmussen joined Vajpayee in unequivocally condemning the assassination
of Jammu and Kashmir minister of state for law and parliamentary affairs
Mushtaq Ahmed Lone, 44, at an election campaign rally earlier on Wednesday.
Two terror groups - a little known outfit called Al-Arifeen as well as
the Pakistan-based Lashker-e-Toiba - have reportedly claimed responsibility
for the assassination.
Mr Vajpayee informed the president
of the EU, which has been closely watching the run-up to the assembly election
in the strife -torn northern state, that 'cross-border forces' were making
every effort to 'intimidate voters' and 'sabotage the process' of seeking
a popular mandate in Jammu and Kashmir. Stressing the common bonds of democracy
between India and Denmark, the PM reiterated New Delhi's position on Kashmir,
saying India wanted to hold a free and fair election in the state. - IANS
