Vajpayee rules out confederation with Pakistan

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Thursday dismissed an opposition suggestion for India and Pakistan coming together to form a confederation.

He was responding to a suggestion made by Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav in the Lok Sabha.

When Yadav intervened and said a friendship between the two countries was not possible without joining in a confederation, Vajpayee said, "That may be your perception."

He, however, said countries of the world were coming together and even Eastern European nations, which were part of the erstwhile Soviet Bloc, were joining the European Union.