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Nation
& States
Good
vibes: Kashmir hydro
project row may end
What is India News Service, June 24, 2004, 1630 hrs
The friendly mood set by minister-level meetings is showing concrete results: officials said
they had achieved a breakthrough on the controversial Baglihar hydro power project in
Jammu and Kashmir.
The two sides said they were "close to resolution". After the meeting water resources secretary
V K Duggal said, "We have discussed all issues with an open mind ... and taken them very close to
resolution."
The officials will have to present their positions to their respective
governments and take their concurrence. Pakistan's water and power secretary Ashfaq Mehmood was also upbeat. He said official discussions were over and the governments would decide on further progress.
While Pakistan has been voicing strong reservations over the design of the
dam and saying that work should be stopped, Indian officials say that 40 per cent of the work has already been completed.
India's position is that the design is well within the provisions of the Indus Waters Treaty of 1962.
Kashmir a 'flashpoint:' Four days after the European Union ambassador to India, Mr Francisco da Gamara Gomes, referred to Jammu and Kashmir as an integral part of India, the leader of a EU parliamentary delegation, described it as a "nuclear flash point".
John Walls Cushnahan, who is heading the seven member delegation from the European Parliament's committee on foreign affairs, human rights, and defence policy, also asserted that the Kashmir issue ought to be resolved through talks involving India, Pakistan and the people of the
state.
Cushnahan, who represents Ireland in the European Parliament is a former
rapporteur for Pakistan, and led the delegation to PoK in December last year.
The European Union delegation is in Jammu and Kashmir for a firsthand
assessment that will guide its report on the issue.
Meanwhile, Pakistan's foreign minister Khurshed Mehmood Kasuri also added his voice to
the international chorus from Qingdao, China, saying that a solution of
Kashmir is the "only guarantee of durable peace in South Asia." He said in
an interview to the news agencies that the question now was: "Can we resolve
it in a way that neither Pakistan nor India are humiliated?"
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Talks
with anti-India leader: A day ahead of the June 27-28
secretary-level talks between Pakistan and India, Pakistani Foreign Secretary Riyz Khokar is likely to hold a
one-on-one meeting with breakaway Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah
Geelani. The gesture is unlikely to please India because of Geelani's
well-known pro-Pakistan stance.
Inflitration
attempt: The army said it had foiled an infiltration bid, killing three armed
men in Kupwara district of north Kashmir on Wednesday. Two militants were killed in
another 'encounter' in the Lolab area of Kupwara district yesterday.
Afghan development: A renegade commander whose forces overran an Afghan provincial
capital welcomed the deployment of national troops there and said he would
disarm if rival commanders did so too, a spokesman said on Tuesday.
Hundreds of Afghan National Army (ANA) troops were due in Chaghcharan,
capital of Ghor province, on Tuesday, charged with reasserting central
authority and help disarm factional militiamen ahead of September elections.
Analysts have blamed unrest that has hit northern and western provinces
since March on clumsy attempts by Karzai to impose his will by sending in
appointees to try to implement the disarmament drive without necessary
support bases, or central backup.
Ministry
reshuffle: Chief minister J. Jayalalithaa, today reshuffled her
cabinet for the
umpteenth time, and in an about turn, reinstated casual state government
employees she had dismissed two days ago.
Stamp
paper arrests: The CBI arrested two more persons allegedly involved in the
fake stamp paper racket, while a Delhi court directed the agency to take Abdul Karim Telgi, the kingpin of the racket, back to the Yerwada
jail in Pune.
Vajpayee
'hurt': The BJP may have officially buried the contentious Narendra Modi issue
for the time being, but the man who rooted for the Gujarat Chief Minister's removal last week and climbed down on his clamour later under
pressure from his senior party colleagues is deeply hurt.
Overall:
Power project prospects light up: Indian and Pakistani
officials buried the hatchet and came to an agreement on the
Baglihar power project.
EU team leader
said Kashmir was a flashpoint:
He is in India to make an assessment for a report that will
influence European Union policy.
Vajpayee said
he was hurt: He climbed
down on his demand for the removal of Modi, but said attacks on him
had hurt him.
Pakistan may
talk to anti-India leader: The move is unlikely to please India
on the eve of its secretary-level talks with that country.
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