Indian Government Official Spokesperson's Briefing
Transcript of Press Briefing by the Official Spokesperson
May 26, 2002
Ms. Rao: Good Afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen.
The latest missile firing by Pakistan - I thought we would give you our reaction. We have already said earlier that we are not impressed by these missile antics, particularly when all that is demonstrated is borrowed or imported ability. What is important is for the international community to understand clearly the actual mindset of the Pakistani leadership.
Q: Any reaction to President
Pervez Musharraf’s warning that Pakistan would not hesitate
to cross the LoC?
A: I was asked what is our reaction
to the statement by Gen. Musharraf in the Washington Post.
Yet another provocative statement from Pakistan and another
clear indication of refusing to see the writing on the wall
and to understand where the need for action lies. Action is
required from Pakistan on stopping cross-border terrorism,
in dealing with infiltration, the activities of terrorist
groups and responding to the call made by India, to the
demands made by India and to the call made by a large number
of leaders of the international community. This again leads
us to reiterate what we have been saying all along, i.e.,
there is a very real necessity for the international
community to understand clearly the actual mindset of the
Pakistani leadership. Well, Pakistani statements of this
sort, that I was just asked to respond to, are quite a
giveaway, you will understand.
Q: Is India willing to
give time to Pakistan to rule over terrorism?
A: I
would refer you to our Prime Minister’s statement this
afternoon at the inauguration of the Rohtang tunnel. I think
our position has been made perfectly clear and as has been
noted by a number of world leaders, our patience has been
stretched beyond breaking point.
Q: You spoke of the
actual mindset of Pakistani leadership. Can you elaborate on
that?
A: Well, I don’t need to elaborate on it, I
would only refer you to the vast body of research opinion
which is available in the public domain about Pakistan’s
clandestine acquisition of missile technology, of nuclear
know-how. So, I don’t need to detail that to you as you are
already aware of it. This is a point which is accepted
everywhere.
Q: You spoke about borrowed technology can
you elaborate on that?
A: Well, I think, you know what
this points to is that the actions of Pakistan fit into the
international community’s worst nightmare scenarios of
State-sponsored terrorist activity armed with ballistic
missile technology and nuclear weaponry.
Q: When is
Jack Straw arriving?
A: I don’t have details as yet
but certainly he is expected here within the next few days.
Q: Do you see greater understanding of the Indian
point of view on the current situation in the Western
World?
A: Well, I think there is a growing
acknowledgement, an increasing awareness of the point of
view that has been articulated by the Government of India
and recognition of our very real concerns about what the
issue is, where the problem lies and why we need immediate
action to act against terrorism.
Q: What are the
things that you feel Pakistan should do more?
A: I
believe that much more needs to be done to emphasize upon
Pakistan that it is time it took meaningful and concrete
action against terrorism, against cross-border terrorism,
against infiltration and that it needs to move away from its
long held policy of compulsive, obsessive hostility towards
India and the Indian people.
Q: (inaudible)
A: I
think I put that in context very clearly yesterday.
President Putin referred to his forthcoming visit to Almaty
and he hoped that he would meet with our Prime Minister and
that he would separately meet with the Pakistani President
and that through these meetings tension in the region would
be deescalated. I would like to draw your attention to the
statement made by the Russian Foreign Office on the 24th of
May which was clear, which was explicit and stated
unequivocally that there is need for action by Pakistan to
check infiltration, to deal with cross-border terrorism and
that if tensions have to go down in our region, this is
where action should be and this is where steps should be
taken, if tensions are to be reduced. So, the onus is really
on Pakistan and I believe our friends in the international
community fully realize that.
Q: (inaudible)
A:
Well, just now I talked about understanding the mindset of
the Pakistani leadership - the fact that Pakistan has been a
sponsor of terrorism, that it is time Pakistan mended its
ways, that the tension in this region has been created by
Pakistani actions, by Pakistani irresponsibility and that
India is genuinely skeptical about the assurances made by
Pakistan that it is going to deal with terrorism, because we
have not seen any action on the ground that would
corroborate those assurances. And we will continue to
impress that upon the international community. We have been
counseled about patience for very long now and we had been
assured that there would be change, there would be a
transformation in Pakistan’s attitude and very little or
nothing has happened. So, our skepticism has only been
reinforced by events of the last few months. We have had a
lot of irresponsible statements from Pakistan, which would
only indicate the kind of political and military
brinkmanship that is being espoused, that is being followed
by the Pakistani leadership.
Thank
you.