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Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Monday said the high voter turnout in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly election indicated that the people of J&K were not for Pakistan.
In a wide-ranging interview to the Financial Times, Vajpayee, who began a three-nation tour to Europe, commended the turnout despite 'violence orchestrated' from across the borders.
"The voter turnout so far has been commendable in the face of the most vicious campaign of threats, intimidation and violence orchestrated from across our borders and aimed at voters and candidates alike. People have expressed their opinion. They are not for Pakistan," he said in the interview published on Monday.
Expressing disappointment with 'Pakistan-backed' attempts to sabotage the assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir, Vajpayee said the current level of violence by militants suggested that Islamabad had not changed its behaviour and had 'done nothing' to fulfil its pledges to stop cross-border terrorism.
He also ruled out immediate resumption of talks with Pakistan saying 'terrorism and dialogue cannot go together'.
"Pakistan is not prepared to listen. The overwhelming sentiment in India is that no meaningful dialogue can be held until Pakistan abandons the use of terrorism," he said
Vajpayee regretted that India's attempts to make peace with its belligerent neighbour had always been 'repaid with violence'.
"I have made a conscious effort to resume and sustain a dialogue with Pakistan in the face of the most discouraging responses from that country and, I must confess sometimes also in the face of domestic opposition," he said. "The series of high-profile attacks convinced us that our efforts at initiating a dialogue were being seen as our weakness."
He, however, added, "We never said no to discussions on the Kashmir issue. As soon as Pakistan ends cross-border terrorism we are willing to resume a dialogue on every aspect of our bilateral relations including Jammu and Kashmir."
"We believe the US and the rest of the international community can play a useful role by exerting influence on Pakistan to put a stop to it," he said.
In reply to a question the prime minister said that India's nuclear weapons system were secure. "We have in place a sophisticated command and control system with our nuclear weapons firmly under civilian control, with all the checks and balances which a democratic system evolves."
"Our weapons are meant purely as a deterrent against nuclear adventure by an adversary," he said ruling out a nuclear war between India and Pakistan. "We do not believe that a nuclear war should be fought and we do not believe that a nuclear war can be won."
The prime minister also said that India had plans to modernise its defence forces, but did not confirm whether he had given the go-ahead to the expected purchase of 66 advanced jet trainer Hawk aircraft from British Aerospace. "I cannot indicate a specific time-frame. The UK's advanced defence industry can certainly play a role in helping India in its defence modernisation," he said
The proposed $1.6 billion is expected to figure in his talks with British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Friday.
On the economic front, Vajpayee rebutted the impression that the economic reforms had been derailed saying, "As regards divestment, there is no going back. It is irreversible."
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