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Situation in J&K should improve further by next year, says Advani

Home Minister L K Advani has said the situation in strife-torn Jammu and Kashmir has improved considerably, and "god willing, next year the situation would be much better".

In an exclusive interview to India Post, a leading NRI weekly published from California, Chicago and New York, the home minister asserted that the situation in Kashmir today was far better than what it was two years ago. He said three years ago, only 300 tourists visited Jammu and Kashmir, and this year the number would be about 15,000.

Advani said film units from Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and other parts of the country have started shooting there, which was not done for many years because the area was out of bounds for them.

The home minister said Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah told him recently that an important hotel in Sringar had its rooms fully booked and people were being provided cottages outside for stay.

To a question why he had used the word ''pro-active'' stance in Kashmir, Advani explained it meant that security forces should flush out militants from their known hideouts instead of waiting for them to strike.

When his attention was drawn to the fighting on the Line of Control and the Siachen Glacier, the home minister admitted that the proxy war had not ended. However, he said in the matter of the proxy war, the difference between two years ago and now was that those militants who have been apprehended or killed, not many are from Jammu and Kashmir.

They were mostly from Pakistani Punjab or were foreign mercenaries from Afghanistan and other countries. He said this was a happy sign, meaning they were no longer getting recruits from Kashmir for their proxy war, which was an improvement.

In reply to a question regarding the worldwide condemnation of India's nuclear tests, Advani replied he was surprised that the kind of comments that India had become a terrorist state should come from countries which had huge nuclear arsenals. It was so hypocritical, he remarked.

The home minister said therefore, he believed that India should continue to do the right thing. It should not disregard international opinion but at the same time it should not be cowed down by the opinion of some major powers "only because they are indifferent to our security concerns". He said Washington's comments in respect of the nuclear blasts had only betrayed their unconcern and indifference for India's security concerns.

Advani pointed out that as for international reaction, he had noticed its adverse nature every time India achieved something. Citing examples, how big powers reacted when Sikkim became part of India and police action was taken in 1948 by Sardar Patel when the Nizam wanted Hyderabad to remain independent and in 1954 when the army was sent to liberate Goa.

The home minister said on these occasions India received abuses from the world in the UN Security Council. Adlai Stevenson was the US representative and was personally pro-India. But when Goa was liberated, he was vehement in hurling epithets against India. The UN moved a resolution against India but we were saved because of the Soviet veto.

To a question that the Budget presented by Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha had not strengthened the investment climate, particularly from the NRI point of view, Advani said India had no hostility towards multinationals but would like Indian industries to become multinationals. The foreign investors will not have any special advantages over Indian industrialists and that is what we have achieved through the Budget, he said.

Advani said foreign investment was welcome in India but at the same time "we believe Indian industries have a potential of becoming global players themselves.

To a question on how he would react to President Clinton's recent warming up to China, the home minister said that was for the people of America to judge. He said, "We would like to see that Indian security concerns were properly safeguarded by this government and at the same time we would like to have good relations with the US."

When asked to comment on the controversy over non-inclusion of certain areas in Uttarakhand, the home minister said the matter had been referred to the Cabinet sub-committee to identify the precise boundaries of Uttaranchal.

UNI

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