Centre may decide on ceasefire extension ahead of schedule

Centre may decide on ceasefire extension ahead of schedule
AJAY SURI

NEW DELHI, FEB 15: The issue of extending the ceasefire in Jammu & Kashmir is likely to be settled on Sunday -- eight days before the deadline (February 26) and a day before Parliament's budget session -- at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) to be chaired by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. Intelligence agencies have already speeded up their work of providing crucial input to the decision-makers.

It was in this connection that Intelligence Bureau (IB) chief Shyamal Dutta today met Union Home Minister L.K. Advani in the latter's North Block office. Dutta, sources disclosed, briefed Advani for about an hour about the situation in the Valley.

The hurry with which the Centre is going about in taking up the ceasefire matter may raise quite a few eyebrows. The primary objective, observers say, is to ensure that there is no ruckus in Parliament on the issue.

Congress, the main opposition party, has already thrown in hints that it is unhappy with the government's ``muddled approach'' on restoring peace in the Valley and for not taking all political parties into confidence before deciding on the ceasefire.

Congress, it is learnt, is planning to demand a discussion on Kashmir during the Budget session. A quick decision on ceasefire extension is also being seen in line with the government's resolve to avoid any pitfall the opposition may prepare for it during the beginning of the session.

The government's effort to iron out ruffled feathers on the ceasefire extension prior to the CCS seems to be fetching the desired result. With Vajpayee having spoken to in detail after the last week's killing of Sikhs in Jammu, Farooq, to New Delhi's relief, today toned down his criticism of unilateral ceasefire. ``I am not against the peace process. I hope ceasefire announced by the Vajpayee Government will lead to the restoration of peace in the state and improve the relations with Islamabad,'' he said in the assembly.

Pakistan chief executive Pervez Musharraf's reported offers to visit India if invited has found few takers here. Defence Minister George Fernandes today revealed the government's mind when he quipped: ``We have not received any official information on his desire to visit India.''