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Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee left New Delhi on Monday for a week-long visit to the United States, during which he will focus on Indo-Pakistan relations, specially what New Delhi has called cross-border terrorism.
Vajpayee is scheduled to meet US President George W. Bush and other world leaders and convey to them about Islamabad's failure to fulfill its promise of ending cross-border terrorism and its alleged attempts to disrupt the coming elections in India-controlled Kashmir.
"Our basic message is that the democracies of the world have a crucial role in countering terrorism together," he told the media before his departure for New York.
"In the present world situation, it is inevitable that the global war against terrorism as well as our own determined efforts against cross-border terrorism would figure in my various bilateral interactions in the US," the Indian leader said in a statement.
During his visit to the United States, which coincides with the first anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attack on the World TradeCenter, Vajpayee will hold talks with several world leaders on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly and discuss issues of bilateral, regional and global issues.
However, New Delhi has ruled out any meeting between Vajpayee and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, who will also be in New York to address the UN annual session.
Vajpayee will attend a commemorative function on Wednesday together with leaders from other countries in memory of those who lost their lives in the terrorist attack.
The Indian leader, who will address the United Nations General Assembly on Friday, is accompanied by External Affairs Minister Yaswant Sinha, National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra and Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal.
In his address to the UN General Assembly and during his talks with leaders from other countries, Vajpayee is expected to focus on India's concerns on the "continuing cross-border terrorism" against it and Islamabad's alleged attempts to disrupt the scheduled elections in India-controlled part of the disputed Kashmir valley.
The prime minister is likely to underpin the importance of the international community taking necessary steps to fully implement UN Security Council resolution 1372, which makes it mandatory for member countries to eliminate all forms of terrorism.
According to the Times of India on Monday, New Delhi has virtually dropped its demands that Washington uses its good offices to pressurize Pakistan to end cross-border terrorism and instead only wants the United States to "counsel Pakistan to develop cooperation with India" on the issue.
Following the US-led war against terrorism last year, India repeatedly asked Washington to put pressure on Islamabad to stop support to Islamic militants, who New Delhi said have wage a terrorist war in Kashmir.
Both the United States and Pakistan declared that the prolongedarmed conflicts and cross-border activities have been scaled down since last May.
However, New Delhi has insisted that infiltration of terrorism from across the border has not stopped and asked Islamabad to do more to show its sincerity to improve relations with it.
New Delhi has also rejected any proposal of resuming the deadlocked dialogue with Islamabad, saying that it was impossible before complete stop of the cross-border terrorist activities in Kashmir and elsewhere.
(Xinhua News Agency September 10, 2002)
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