NEW DELHI. July 6: India has chosen to react with extreme caution to the joint statement issued after talks between US President Bill Clinton and Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Washington which clearly commits Pakistan to withdraw its forces from Kargil in Indian side of Kashmir.
The statement, issued after three hours of intense discussions between Clinton and Sharif on Sunday night, is seen by analysts here as a "total turnaround" in Pakistan's stand in seeking to question the Line of Control (LoC) dividing it with India and to secure third party mediation in Indo-Pak disputes.
Official circles in New Delhi note with satisfaction that the Sharif-Clinton statement fully endorses the sequence of measures listed by India in dealing with the Kargil crisis and the follow-up steps to be taken by New Delhi and Islamabad in resuming peace talks.
India has made it clear that a return to the process of talks set off by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's bus ride to Lahore is possible only after a full and unconditional withdrawal of Pakistani incursion in Kargil anti restoration of the sanctity of LoC.
The joint US-Pak statement says Pakistan would take "concrete steps" to respect the LoC as
per the Shimla Accord of 1972 and that there would be a ceasefire between the India and Pakistan only after these steps are taken.
The Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesman has said Washington had conveyed to New Delhi that "concrete steps" mentioned in the joint statement means "withdrawal" of Pakistani forces from Indian side of LoC.
The main reasons for India's circumspection in reacting to the Sharif-Clinton joint statement are: first. New Delhi is keeping its fingers crossed about Sharifs ability to implement his commitment in the face of 'hawkish' postures of the army and fundamentalists in Pakistan and secondly the Vajpayee government would not like to give impression that it is encouraging third party mediation in Indo-Pak issues.
No doubt, the United States had been in touch with the Indian leadership before it agreed to receive Sharif for hurriedly-called discussions on Sunday as well as during and after the discussions.
Officially. India has expressed the hope that Pakistan would implement its commitment made in the joint statement to withdraw its forces from Indian side of LoC and would watch the ground reality. India also vowed to press ahead with military actions against the intruders in Kargil till they
were completely cleared out.
Doubts persist in official circles in New Delhi if Sharif would be about able to muster the sincerity or courage to implement the contents of the joint statement with Clinton.
Would he be able to sell it to the Pakistan army or Inter-services Intelligence or to the radical camp in his country? These questions remain to be answered.
Meanwhile, at home, the Vajpayee government has sought to dispel the anxiety that United States' support to India on Kargil standoff would result in American role in Indo-Pak problems.
The mainstream opposition led by the Congress and CPI (M) and CPI have cautioned the Vajpayee government against third party mediation in Indo-Pak bilateral disputes.
The CPI (M) Said the Vajpayee government should not project Sharif-Clinton joint statement as a "major victory" for India while the CPI alleged the statement was a "back door attempt" to involve a third party in Indo-Pak issues.
However, the External Affairs Ministry spokesman asserted that there was no place for third party involvement because the joint statement itself emphasises that India and Pakistan should resolve their bilateral problems through "bilateral dialogues."