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Vajpayee voices fears over Pakistan's Islamisation

India today expressed apprehension over the proposed move by Pakistan to introduce Islamic law in the country and said it might have an adverse impact in neighbouring Afghanistan and the Central Asian republics.

In his first official reaction to the move, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, while describing it as an internal affair of Pakistan, pointed out that this decision nevertheless would have an impact on Afghanistan and the Central Asian republics.

Vajpayee made these comments while replying to questions on board the Harsh Vardhan, en route to Oman from where he begins his four-nation tour.

''We are moving into the 21st century and any step which takes us backwards is not welcome,'' he asserted.

Nawaz Sharief has proposed to bring in an a comprehensive constitutional amendment by which the Quran and Sunnah (sayings of the Prophet) will be the supreme law ostensibly to meet the threat from fundamentalist forces in the country in the aftermath of the US bombing of terrorist targets in Afghanistan last week.

Later, in a formal statement, Vajpayee said India has stated categorically that growth of religious extremism in any country was of concern to its neighbours.

In a clear reference to acts of cross-border terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, Vajpayee said India has lived with some of its consequences, as have other countries in the region, such as Afghanistan.

''We mean well by the people of Pakistan who want stability and prosperity for themselves. We on our part, seek good, stable relations with Pakistan and will continue our efforts in this direction," the statement said.

The prime minister also made it clear that India will take all necessary steps to safeguard its security.

Commenting on Sharief's last minute decision to cancel his trip to Durban owing to domestic compulsions, Vajpayee said he was disappointed and that it would have been better had he made it to the NAM summit. He was still hopeful that the Pakistani prime minister would make it to Durban.

The prime minister said he was scheduled to meet Sharief over breakfast during the summit. ''I now look forward to a meeting with Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz who will be leading the Pakistani delegation."

Officials of both sides would, of course, meet at Durban to carry forward the dialogue to improve bilateral relations, picking up from where they left off at Colombo, he said.

On his meeting with Sharief at Colombo, he remarked, ''I could establish a personal rapport with him but no tangible results could be achieved.''

Asked whether he expected an adverse reaction from the NAM summit's host country South Africa to the recent nuclear tests, the prime minister said he had a telephonic talk with President Nelson Mandela recently. ''The talks were good,'' he said.

UNI

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