Monday, April 18, 2011

Media Clippings- Shri Tarun Vijay in Kolkata, 14 April, 2011

KOLKATA, April 14, 2011

No reason to renew talks with Pakistan: BJP

The United Progressive Alliance government's recent attempts to renew bilateral talks with Pakistan through ‘cricket diplomacy' are comparable to the controversial joint statement by Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and Yusuf Raza Gilani at Sharm-el-Sheikh in Egypt in July 2009, the Bharatiya Janata Party said on Thursday.

The joint statement then drew flak from the BJP on the ground that it de-linked action on terror from the composite dialogue process and had a reference to Balochistan that allegedly emboldened Pakistani leaders to accuse India of involvement in fomenting insurgency in the region.

Expressing “shock” at the Centre's decision to open peace-dialogue channels with Pakistan, BJP national spokesman Tarun Vijay told a press conference here: “We find no reason for this move even after terror suspect Tahawwur Hussain Rana had admitted that the government of Pakistan was directly involved in the November 2008 terror attack in Mumbai that killed so many civilians.”

Assailing Islamabad for not cooperating with New Delhi in investigating terror cases, Mr. Vijay said the Centre should mount pressure on Pakistan to cede the Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) area to India. “Parliament passed a unanimous resolution in February 1994 that PoK is an integral part of India. Once the area is reclaimed, terrorism can be brought to an end as all terror camps run by Pakistan there would be dismantled.”

Mr. Vijay criticised Dr. Singh for restarting defence exchange with China and for not taking up the issue of the alleged presence of 10,000 Chinese troops in PoK during his recent visit to the country.

Source:- http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article1697140.ece

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April 14, 2011

India should take up Rana''s claims with Pakistan: BJP

Apr 14,2011

Kolkata, Apr 14 (PTI) The BJP today demanded that instead of carrying on 'cricket diplomacy', the UPA government should exert appropriate diplomatic pressure on Pakistan forcing it to initiate steps against those accountable for their role in the Mumbai terror attack. "India should immediately take up with Pakistan claims made by Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a key accused in the 26/11 Mumbai attack case, that he had acted at the behest of Pakistan government and ISI and not terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba," BJP national spokesperson Tarun Vijay said here today. Simultaneously, the UPA government should also mount pressure on Pakistan to give up POK (Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir), Vijay said. Rana, the Pakistani-Canadian accused in the Mumbai terror case, has claimed in court documents that his "alleged illegal acts of providing material support to terrorists -- were done at the behest of the Pakistani government and the ISI, not the Lashkar terrorist organisation." Rana's disclosures have brought to the fore India's suspicion that Pakistan's government and the ISI had a role in the 26/11 attacks that left 166 dead. Strongly criticising cricket diplomacy with Pakistan, the BJP MP said, "Such an effort is useless, unless and until steps are taken by Pakistan against those responsible for the heinous crime against India in Mumbai." "The cricket diplomacy will turn into a second Sharm el-Shaikh, if India fails to force Pakistan act against perpetrators of terror acts in India," he said.