Former Prime Minister of India - Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Opening remarks of Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee at the Press Conference in Almaty

Following is the text of the Prime Minister, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s opening remarks at the end - of -the visit Press Conference at Almaty today.

~I am happy to meet mediapersons at the end of my first visit to Kazakhstan – indeed, to Central Asia. Historically, this extended neighbourhood of ours has been very close to our hearts. It is linked to India through ties of history, culture and spirituality. With the countries of Central Asia becoming independent, a new geo-political reality, of great significance to us, has come into being in this part of the world after the end of the Cold War. India wishes to strengthen her ties with all the countries of the region, imparting a multi-dimensional character to them. I would call it the new ~Silk Route Initiative~ of India’s foreign policy, It will seek to build a new Silk Road of Friendship and Cooperation between India and Central Asia.

My visit, which began on June 2, had the principal aim of sharing the desire for peace, prosperity and progress with Kazakhstan, the largest country in the region. During my stay in Almaty, I have seen for myself Kazakhstan’s impressive progress over the last ten years. I have had very friendly meetings with the President of Kazakhstan, Mr. Nulsultan Nazarbaev.

In our bilateral meeting on 3rd June, President Nazarbaev and I reviewed the extremely fast pace of progress in our relations since February, 2002 when he had come to India on a state visit. We have now identified Energy, Information Technology, Pharmaceuticals, Small Scale Industries and Defence Cooperation as areas for special focus. I am glad that both CII and FICCI were also present in Almaty with large delegations. These business leaders informed me that they see great opportunities for Indo-Kazakh economic cooperation. CII and FICCI have both decided to set up an office each in Kazakhstan. I would like this flag of business friendship to be carried to other Central Asian countries as well.

India and Kazakhstan have now set up a Joint Working Group Against International Terrorism and another Agreement to promote Tourism. A Memorandum of Understanding on Military and Technical Cooperation was also signed.

Besides my extensive meetings with the President of Kazakhstan, I also met with the President of Tajikistan, Mr. Emomali Rakhmanov. I was touched by the great warmth shown by President Rakhmanov. He invited me to visit Tajikistan and I have accepted his invitation. I conveyed to him our fraternal greetings to the people of Tajikistan, wishing him success in his country’s struggle against terrorism and extremism.

My meetings with the Presidents of Kazakhstan and Tajikistan have reinforced my conviction that a great opportunity beckons us to work together with all the countries of Central Asia. Together, we should be partners in tomorrow’s mutually beneficial progress. Besides the obvious benefits in cooperation in Energy, there is a strategic logic to our ~Silk Route Initiative~.

On the eve of the first CICA Summit, Kazakhstan extended a special gesture to India. President Nazarbaev joined me in naming a beautiful road of Almaty after Mahatma Gandhi. I was deeply touched by this dedication to the Apostle of Peace just before the CICA Summit.

On 4th June, I participated in the ~Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA)~. This Conference was aimed at spreading the message of peace, security and friendship so that peoples of Asia could concentrate on removal of poverty and promotion of socio-economic development through close bilateral and regional cooperation. This, indeed, was India’s principal motivation behind our unstinted cooperation over the last 10 years in the CICA process. In my address at the Summit, I conveyed the message that deeper and broader Asian cooperation, with emphasis on conflict-resolution through dialogue, is the key to unleashing the full potential of Asia for peace and development both in our own continent and around the world.

I also shared my hope for a new vision for Asia based on our inheritance of some of the greatest civilizations and spiritual traditions in the world, emphasizing that tolerance and equal respect for all faiths has to be recognized as a universal principle in the new inter-dependent world we live in. In this context, I emphasized the need to defeat the forces of terrorism and religious extremism through an intensified global struggle. I am happy that most participating states had a similar vision for Asia.

I took the opportunity of the CICA summit to convey to the peoples and governments of Asia, India’s deep concern over cross-border terrorism aimed at destabilizing our country. I said that India has taken due note of the repeated assurances from the President of Pakistan to stop infiltration of terrorists into India and all terrorist activities conducted from Pakistani soil in the name of Kashmir. So far, India and the world community have not seen the results of these assurances on the ground. I have clearly conveyed that India is ready for dialogue with Pakistan on all issues, including the issue of Jammu & Kashmir, when cross-border terrorism ends.

Of great significance to India and the entire Asian and global community are the two documents signed at the CICA summit – the ~Almaty Act~ and the ~CICA Declaration on Eliminating Terrorism and Promoting Dialogue Among Civilizations~. I wish to draw the attention of the media to just one of the important commitments enjoined on all the signatories to the Almaty Act.

~Separatism is one of the main threats and challenges to the security and stability, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of states. The Member States shall not support on the territory of another Member State any separatist movements and entities, and, if such emerge, not to establish political, economic and other kinds of relations with them, not to allow the territories and communications of the Member States to be used by the above-mentioned movements and entities, and not to render them any kind of economic, financial and other assistance.~

I held warm and friendly bilateral talks with President Vladimir Putin of Russia. I conveyed to him India’s appreciation of Russia’s strong and consistent support for our stand on terrorism. We are keenly looking forward to his visit to India in December.

I had a fruitful bilateral meeting with President Jiang Zemin of China. We discussed bilateral and CICA-related issues.

I was happy to have had the opportunity of meeting Chairman Hamid Karzai of the Interim Administration of Afghanistan. We discussed regional issues including the residual problems of the war against terrorism in that country. We believe that the forthcoming Loya Jirgah will be one more important step in strengthening independence, democracy and peace in Afghanistan.

I also had the opportunity of meeting the President of Turkey, Mr. N. Sezer. We discussed issues of bilateral importance~.