India rejects U.S. special envoy offer

India's Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh laid down the parameters for talks with Pakistan yesterday, hours after Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's dramatic handshake with Indian prime minister electrified the gathering at the inaugural session of the 11th South Asian summit here.

While strenuously denying that there were any plans to hold formal, bilateral talks between either Musharraf and Vajpayee, and between him and Pakistan Foreign Minister Abdus Sattar, Singh was mobbed on arrival at the Everest Hotel which has doubled as the media centre for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc).

He told the media that "while we welcome the hand of friendship extended by General Musharraf to the prime minister, the prime minister's reaction in essence is that the gesture of the hand of friendship must be accompanied by acts of friendship".

More significantly, Singh completely rejected suggestions by the Bush administration of the appointment of a special envoy to deal with the current tensions in the Indian subcontinent.

"We reject a special envoy or an ordinary envoy. The U.S. has missions in New Delhi and in Islamabad, unless the missions are not up to the task I don 't see the necessity for a special envoy."

While refusing to characterise the handshake either as "an olive branch" or as a "public relations gimmick", Singh said he did not believe that the issues that divide India and Pakistan "can be solved through such public gestures".

Vajpayee's reply was also "not a rebuff", he said adding that he was "very appreciative" of the statements made by Musharraf, though for resumption of dialogue India would like to request Pakistan "not to hold a tamancha (pistol) of terrorism to our head as a pre-condition to dialogue. I cannot accept that terrorism is a pre-dialogue negotiating tactic".

The Indian people, he said, were outraged at the attack on its parliament, describing it as "a crossing of a threshold".

He said when India had asked Pakistan to arrest the leaders of the Jaish-e-Mohammed and the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and ban the two groups that India believes perpetrated the terror attacks, "the Pakistan spokesperson said 'you had done it yourself', and then a few days later banned the two groups, which is precisely what we had asked them to do."

When asked what specific "acts of friendship" were required to restore good relations between the two countries, he said: "Stop acts of violence against India."

He said Vajpayee's statement at the inaugural session summed up India's stand that there must be a halt to "acts of terror against India from any territory within Pakistan or occupied by Pakistan." He however said that India had "no wish to impinge on the sovereign rights of Pakistan".

Singh added that it was Pakistan that had to decide what actions it must take.

"We would like an announcement that you are not going to promote terrorism and take action against the criminals on the list we have provided. As I have said before why should Pakistan want to keep Indian criminals on their soil."