A day after Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf raised the Kashmir issue at the Non Aligned Movement summit, Prime Minsiter Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Tuesday bluntly told the grouping that it "will die" if it gets involved in bilateral problems.
"The NAM will die before it can revitalise itself if it gets involved in the bilateral issues," he told Indian journalists at the end of his four-day visit to Malaysia to attend the NAM summit here.
Pointing out that an international grouping like the Organisation of Islamic Conference and ASEAN never allowed bilateral issues to cloud their agenda, Vajpayee said, "NAM should adopt the same principles. NAM should never discuss such matters."
The prime minister appreciated the stand taken by NAM chairman Malaysia and other countries that Kashmir was a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan and should be resolved between them.
He also slammed Musharraf's attempts to draw a parallel between Kashmir and Palestine issues saying "there is no comparison between them, the people of Kashmir have given their verdict in the election to stay with India. They have decided that." Vajpayee was responding to Musharraf raking up the bilateral Kashmir issue at the NAM summit in violation of the grouping's charter.
Asked about Musharraf's remarks that both hands were required to clap and if India was reluctant to resume dialogue, he was also not keen, the prime minister took a dig at the Pakistani leader saying, "Tali nahi bajti to chutki baja lein. Kuch na kuch bajna chaihiye (If he can't clap then let him click. Something should keep ringing)."