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India rejects Pakistan's proposal of
no-war pact

India on Thursday rejected Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's proposals for a no-war pact and denuclearisation of South Asia saying there was "nothing new" in it.

New Delhi's "stand is that nuclear weapons should be banished from the entire globe. Denuclearisation of India and Pakistan will have no meaning", Minister of State for External Affairs Omar Abdullah said.

He was responding to a question on Musharraf's remarks in an interview to NBC TV that he was prepared to accept denuclearisation of South Asia and sign a no-war pact with India.

Abdullah said since 1947, it was always Pakistan, which had launched aggression against India, including the 1999 Kargil incursion.

"Now, Pakistan is suggesting such a pact when it has been the aggressor. It would have been good if Islamabad had offered along with it a no-terrorism (accord)," he said.

Asked if Pakistan had sent its much-touted list of criminals it wanted from India, Abdullah said no such document had been received.

"After External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh's announcement that New Delhi would quickly act on such a list, Pakistan has put the issue in cold storage," he said

Replying to questions on Musharraf's proposals, an external affairs ministry spokesperson said there was "nothing new" in these offers and that Pakistan had made them on many occasions in the past.

"India's position has been clearly stated that Pakistan must stop the proxy war and cross-border terrorism," she told reporters.

On denuclearisation of South Asia, the spokesperson said Islamabad had made similar statements when it was clandestinely acquiring technical know-how in the nuclear field.

PTI

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