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Don't rule out dialogue with Pak: Congress to Centre

The All India Congress Committee (AICC) on Friday urged the BJP-led NDA government 'not to foreclose prospects of a dialogue (with Pakistan in the spirit of the Shimla Agreement) in haste'.

Cautioning the government, the party stressed that the present circumstances call for thoughtful and prudent action, not populist pronouncements.

In a four-and-a-half page resolution on foreign policy, the Congress regretted that 'in recent years, the NDA government has chosen to depart from the path of consensus on the matter of India's foreign policy'.

"India mobilized its defense forces at the border with Pakistan several months ago. However, this move does not appear to have paid any dividends either in terms of the attitude of Pakistan or reduction in the incidence of infiltration by terrorists," it said.

The Congress commended the efforts to speed up the negotiations under UN auspices on the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism and the Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism.

Raising another point, despite Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee publicly conceding that India's standing in the international community has taken a beating following the reprehensible and unforgivable events in Gujarat, the Congress lamented that Vajpayee, under pressure from the sangh parivar, had failed to rectify the situation.

The party rejected the concept of a unipolar world saying, "There is an urgent need for a reaffirmation of the principles of the Non-Alignment Movement, which constitutes a proven method for resisting the quest for dominance."

"India must take the lead in rejuvenating NAM," the resolution said.

"The significance of the NAM must not be undermined despite the dramatic changes in the world," said the resolution pointing out that the West versus East scenario has been replaced by the North versus South scenario, which 'has acquired an equally critical importance'.

Referring to the developments in West Asia, the resolution said, "Improvement in our relations with Israel cannot be at the cost of our traditional support for the legitimate rights of the people of Palestine. Both Israel and Palestine have a right to exist as sovereign nations."

The party resolution said that Palestine President Yasser Arafat has been a good friend of India and his welfare and well-being were an essential ingredient for peace in West Asia.

"Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's attempt to crush the spirit and dignity of the Palestinian freedom fighters is proving counterproductive," it said.

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