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India rejects mediation after Clinton statement

NEW DELHI: India's prime minister, speaking after U.S. President Bill Clinton expressed hopes of reducing tension between India and Pakistan over Kashmir, said on Saturday he would not permit outside interference.

"We will not brook interference in our internal affairs or allow others to meddle in our bilateral relations or problems," Atal Behari Vajpayee said while addressing a conference organised by expatriate Indians.

However, he said India was ready to engage with any country "in a co-operative framework."

Vajpayee's comments came after Clinton said he was profoundly concerned about the discord between nuclear rivals India and Pakistan and hoped to do something to ease it before leaving office.

Clinton is due to visit India in March as part of a tour of South Asia.

India has repeatedly ruled out any third party mediation in its bilateral problems, particularly its relations with arch-foe Pakistan and its dispute with Islamabad over Kashmir.

Vajpayee urged the expatriate Indians to articulate India's stand on Kashmir and state-sponsored terrorism.

"I would urge you to do this on a more sustained basis over issues such as India's stand on Kashmir, our strong secular tradition and state-sponsored terrorism which has actually become a menace to global peace and security," Vajpayee said.

The disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir has been the cause of two out of three wars fought between India and Pakistan since 1947.-Reuters