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Govt clears opposition's misgivings on J&K, foreign policy

Accused of adopting a 'weak-kneed approach', the government on Tuesday assured the Lok Sabha that there was no compromise on the question of Jammu & Kashmir being an integral part of the Indian Union.

The issue was discussed in the Lok Sabha after Congress chief whip Priyaranjan Dasmunshi and Ramji Lal Suman of the Samajwadi Party moved a calling-attention motion on US Secretary of State Colin Powell's remarks in New Delhi on Sunday.

Powell had favoured international observers for the forthcoming election in Jammu & Kashmir to make it 'more credible', and stated that the issue is on the international agenda.

The House witnessed a chain of protests from members, including some from National Democratic Alliance supporters like the Telugu Desam Party, against Powell's remarks.

The entire opposition slammed the NDA government for its 'weak-kneed approach' on matters of foreign policy, which, they said, had left ample scope for foreign powers to meddle in India's internal affairs.

Initiating the debate, Dasmunshi said, "As the issue concerns national sovereignty and national honour, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee should participate and reply to the debate."

Dasmunshi recalled former US president Bill Clinton's remarks in the course of his address to the joint sitting of Parliament in the Central Hall on March 22, 2000. Clinton had then described Kashmir as 'disputed' territory and attributed the Indian victory in the 1999 Kargil war "largely to American diplomacy".

"At that time, the Vajpayee government did not protest," Dasmunshi pointed out.

On July 27, a similar situation had arisen when Powell made a "rash of remarks" that Dasmunshi said were a "direct insult" to the nation.

K Yerran Naidu (TDP) said, "Powell's remarks were totally objectionable and highly condemnable. The prime minister should make a statement in the House."

"Almost every month, one or two US officials drop by and dole out unsolicited advice. Indian ministers line up to receive the US secretary or deputy secretary of state or even assistant secretary of state. Who appointed them as arbiters? The Vajpayee government has fractured foreign policy," Somnath Chatterjee (Communist Party of India-Marxist) said.

Raghuvansh Prasad Singh (Rashtriya Janata Dal) questioned the locus standi of the Bush administration to advise India on holding free and fair polls pointing out that the 2000 US presidential election was not without blemish.

Kirit Somayya (BJP) and Karbela Swain, however, praised Prime Minister Vajpayee for his stewardship of the Indian foreign policy.

Replying to the debate, Minister of State for External Affairs Digvijay Singh pointed out that Powell had later dismissed the idea that the US was in favour of international observers to ensure free and fair elections in Jammu & Kashmir.

"India is a country of more than one billion (100 crore) people and is fully capable of resolving its problems and needs no advice from anyone," he told the Lok Sabha.

"Though in our words we will be polite, in our stand we will be firm," he added.

"Several elections have been held in Jammu & Kashmir. Even during the Emergency, elections were held in India and the prime minister of the day lost her own seat and the government was voted out. That itself speaks for the free and fair nature of India's elections," he said.

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