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Vajpayee asks Pakistan to
abandon path of violence

Declaring that India was prepared to "go the extra mile" in resolving differences with neighbours, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee Wednesday asked Pakistan to abandon the path of violence, asserting that "dialogue and violence cannot go hand in hand".

"We continue to seek friendship and co-operation with all countries in our neighbourhood. In this quest, we have always been prepared to go the extra mile," Vajpayee told the Iranian Parliament.

Without naming Pakistan, Vajpayee said, "Wherever there are differences and however strong or emotional these differences, they have to be addressed directly, peacefully and through dialogue. Dialogue and violence cannot go hand in hand."

In a clear reference to Islamabad, he said, "We call upon those forces in our neighbourhood, which have promoted confrontation and pursued the path of violence to recognise the futility of their ways and to abandon them. On our part, we are aware of our responsibilities and will always act with restraint."

Vajpayee, who spoke in chaste Hindi, said India would never allow any external force to cast a shadow on the country's secular fabric by seeking to damage its unity and territorial integrity.

"Islam has made a significant contribution to the development of our culture. We do not consider any religion foreign to us. For nearly a thousand years, Islam has been part and parcel of our national and social life," the prime minister said.

He spoke of "dark forces" of violence, terrorism and obscurantist ideologies that had again emerged in the neighbourhood.

Observing that Afghanistan has been at the crossroads of civilisation, Vajpayee said that it was tragic that an attempt was being made to obliterate its past through the destruction of its historic art, which was the heritage of all mankind.

Vajpayee said these acts could not be condoned as an expression of rage against an uncared for world.

"The mentality behind the forces that are responsible for this destruction and the nexus of these forces with violence and terror presents a challenge to all those societies that aspire to harmony and peace," the prime minister said, adding India and Iran had to confront these challenges together.

Referring to traditional affinities and commonalities between the two countries, Vajpayee said the time had come to reinvigorate bilateral relations in all areas especially energy, education, culture, science and technology, economy and commerce, agriculture and industry.

Maintaining that the possibilities were immense, he said the two countries should accelerate joint efforts for mutual benefit.

He said India remained firmly committed to the basic principles of its constitution and polity -- democracy, freedom, secularism, social justice and equitable growth.

"Our belief in secularism is rooted in a tradition which fundamentally respects man's spiritual quest and his freedom to pursue it in the manner in which he chooses to do so," he said, adding, "there may be some occasional aberrations but neither the state nor civil society would ever weaken its bond with secular values which are inherent in our civilisation and cultural inheritance."

Observing that globalisation, technology revolution and international inter-dependence were inescapable realities, Vajpayee said that this should not be an inevitable corollary that weaker countries get marginalised in the process, or that the socio-economic divide is replaced by digital divide within and between countries.

"Tendencies to unilateralism in resolving economic issues have to be resisted," he said, cautioning that imposition of tough measures for an accelerated liberalisation of fragile economies could provoke an economic collapse or social backlash.

Countries like India and Iran should jointly engage in the process of countering moves which could create a new international regime of economic discrimination, he stressed.

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