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Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee bluntly told Pakistan on Wednesday that India would leave no stone unturned to crush cross-border terrorism in Jammu & Kashmir, but at the same time asserted that 'we will continue our peace process' to improve relations with Islamabad.
Addressing the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort on India's 55th Independence Day, Vajpayee said the Lahore Declaration and Simla Agreement could not be set aside and would continue to be the basis for further dialogue.
He said that in his efforts to improve ties with Pakistan, he had invited President Pervez Musharraf for talks, but the latter came with a single-point agenda: Kashmir.
Taking strong exception to General Musharraf's description of the violence in Kashmir as a freedom struggle, Vajpayee said, "No efforts will be spared to crush cross-border terrorism."
"There is no question of accepting his [Musharraf's] statement that what is happening in Jammu & Kashmir is a freedom struggle," he asserted. "What kind of jihad is this where innocent people are being killed," he asked, citing the recent killings in Doda and Kishtwar.
Declaring that India believed in peace, Vajpayee said it was with this intention that he had undertaken the journey to Lahore in 1998, but Pakistan's intrusion in Kargil spoiled the atmosphere.
The intruders were successfully driven back, the prime minister said, adding that despite Kargil and cross-border terrorism, he had invited Musharraf for talks.
He told the general that the two countries, despite their limited resources, poverty and backwardness, had been fighting for over 50 years.
"If we have to fight, let us do so to eliminate poverty and backwardness in the two countries," he said he told Musharraf.
The prime minister said violence only complicated issues and was no means to resolve problems.
He said India, a big country, had several languages, cultures and religions, but this diversity could not be seen as a sign of weakness. On the contrary, it showed the country's unity in diversity.
Vajpayee said that through concerted efforts the number of people living below the poverty line had come down. But much more needed to be done for these deprived segments.
Referring to the untold miseries caused by the super cyclone in Orissa, earthquake in Gujarat and floods and drought in some parts of the country, he said the government would set up an institutionalised mechanism to deal with natural calamities.
He allayed fears that the Indian market would be flooded with cheaper foodgrains from abroad as a result of WTO obligations and adversely affect farmers in the country.
Admitting that some scandals had surfaced recently, the prime minister said his government was committed to dealing firmly with corruption. "The long arm of the law will catch up with anyone indulging in such acts, no matter how high the post he occupies," he promised.
As proof, he pointed out that his government had introduced the Lok Pal Bill, which seeks to bring even the prime minister under its purview, in Parliament to ensure probity in public life.
At the same time, he said, he disapproved of the 'growing tendency' to dub 'baseless allegations' scandals.
Admitting that inequities had widened after the country had embarked on the path of economic liberalisation, he said his government would make necessary changes in its policies to ensure a fairer deal to the poor, jobless and rural populations.
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