'India and Pakistan should learn to live as good neighbours'

Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee launched his European tour pitching a strong case for peace with Pakistan, but he recalled the Kargil conflict to insist that New Delhi would never relax its defences.

Addressing a meeting of Indian expatriates in Germany Tuesday night, the prime minister emphasised that in today's post-Iraq war world it would be best if India and Pakistan learnt to live together as good neighbours.

"We should live together," he said, speaking in chaste Hindi, in a clear reference to Pakistan, with which India has fought three major wars since their independence in 1947. "Why can't we remain together? Why can't we resolve our differences through talks?"

Dressed in a crisp white dhoti and brown khadi sleeveless coat, the prime minister spoke freely before an estimated 700 Indian expatriates and Germans, including members of the German Parliament or Bundestag.

"The world is full of contradictions," the prime minister underlined.

"We want peace. But suppose the other side doesn't want peace? We should be prepared for that also."

He added: "We will continue to work for peace. At the same time, we will not hesitate to take steps for the country's defence and protection.

"India is a messenger of peace. But we must be prepared to display our strength too. The country cannot be left defenceless. Sometimes people don't understand this thinking."

Vajpayee, who arrived here Tuesday afternoon at the start of an eight-day three-nation tour of Europe, referred at length during his 25-minute address to his efforts to promote peace with Pakistan.

The Prime Minister recalled that when he went to Pakistan's Lahore city in 1999 riding a bus, the Pakistani military was already preparing for war, a development that led to a military conflict between the two countries in the hills of Kargil in Jammu and Kashmir.

"I was in the dark," Vajpayee said, and paused for a moment. "Their prime minister was also in the dark."

He added: "I went to Lahore with the message of peace. It is a different thing that the peace ran into Kargil hills. Not only that. It broke to pieces.

"Even then we did not depart from the path of peace. We called (Pakistan President) General (Pervez) Musharraf to Agra. That chance (for peace) also went waste. They kept putting conditions which we could not meet.

"We have not accepted defeat. We are trying for the third time (to make peace with Pakistan)."

Vajpayee referred to the Indian government decision this week to resume the New Delhi-Lahore bus service that was suspended following the December 2001 terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament, and remarked amid laughter: "I hope the bus would not go astray."

Vajpayee's address to the Indian expatriates was his first public engagement after arriving here from New Delhi for a three-day visit to Germany. He will later travel to Russia to attend the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg and to Evian in France for a meeting of emerging economies ahead of the G-8 summit.