Blair Meets With Indian PM in Attempt to Cool Kashmir Tensions

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, January 07, 2002

Blair Meets With Indian PM in Attempt to Cool Kashmir Tensions

British Prime Minister Tony Blair had talks Sunday in New Delhi with Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair had talks Sunday in New Delhi with Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.

The two premiers shook hands warmly and at length before starting their discussions.

With thousands of troops massed on the India-Pakistan border in the wake of last month's attack on the Indian parliament, it is hoped Mr Blair can urge the nuclear neighbours to pull back from a conflict.

India blames the attack on Pakistan's support for Kashmiri separatist groups.

Mr Vajpayee has just returned from the South Asia summit in Nepal, where two handshakes with Pakistani leader General Musharraf nevertheless failed to produce anything more than a courtesy call between the two men.

The Indian leader rebuffed all Pakistani attempts to break the ice at the summit.

"SAARC is not a platform for economic issues," he said.

"It is primarily an economic forum. If you introduce political issues into such a forum it will only create problems."

Blair's South Asian tour

Mr Blair's South Asian tour, which began in Bangladesh and will take him to Pakistan on Monday, has turned into a US-backed mission to cool temperatures on the Indo-Pakistan border.

Before his meeting with Vajpayee, Mr Blair met for 45 minutes with Indian Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh.

Mr Blair's spokesman said the Prime Minister fully understood India's desire to see an end to all support for terrorism.

"Equally, this problem is going to be solved only through political dialogue, and we believe it is possible to see both things. But how and when is a matter for them," the spokesman said.

New Delhi has refused to engage Islamabad in a bilateral dialogue, saying it has not gone far enough to curb "cross-border terrorism."

While pointing out that Pakistan had already taken some measures against extremist groups, Mr Blair's spokesman said it was not for Britain to say whether or not those steps were sufficient.

"The Indians want more. It's a matter for them."

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