Author: Kumar Uttam
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: March 31, 2011
URL: http://www.dailypioneer.com/328165/Dialogue-futile-till-Pak-destroys-terror-groups-says-Advani.html
Senior BJP leader LK Advani on Wednesday said
no formal dialogue between India and Pakistan should resume until the neighbouring
country dismantles terror camps operating from their soil.
On a day India clashed with Pakistan in the
second semi-final of the ICC World Cup at Mohali, Advani batted for 'people-to-people'
contact to bring down the tension between the two nations but cautioned the
Government against any hasty steps with regard to resumption of dialogue.
"Cricket diplomacy is fine. We don't
have an issue with that. But the Government should not proceed with resumption
of formal dialogue until Pakistan dismantles terror groups operating in its
territory," Advani told The Pioneer here on Wednesday.
He was commenting on Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh's decision to invite his Pakistan counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani for
the India-Pakistan cricket match - often described as 'cricket diplomacy'.
Advani said this "cricket diplomacy was at best a welcome engagement
but not a strategic development".
Asked whether Singh had taken the Opposition
into confidence before extending the invitation to the Pakistani PM, Advani
replied in negative. The former Deputy Prime Minister described the joint
statement at Sharm-el-Sheikh as a big turning point in the relationship between
the two countries.
"Even leaked US diplomatic cables, exposed
by the WikiLeaks, had quoted former National Security Advisor MK Narayanan
as saying that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's push for talks with Pakistan
had scant support within the Government. He was a loner within his own Government,"
Advani said.
In his conversation with US Ambassador Timothy
Roemer, Narayanan described the PM as a "great believer" in talks
and negotiations with Islamabad, while he himself was "not a great believer
in Pakistan".
Claiming that public sentiment got heavily
loaded against the Government after the Sharm-el-Sheikh fiasco, the senior
BJP leader reiterated his objection to resumption of dialogues without any
credible action from Pakistan against terror groups operating in that country.
