A small little move to challenge the fifth generation supremacy of Machine over Man!

MALE, May 13: Prime Minister I K Gujral today ruled out any immediate troops reduction in the militancy-infested Jammu and Kashmir, asserting that ``the army is there in response to a situation and will continue to be there till the situation warrants.''

Reacting angrily to the reported comment by Pakistan Foreign Minister Gauhar Ayub that the Army had gone ``berserk'' in Jammu and Kashmir since the last round of Indo-Pak foreign secretary-level talks in New Delhi, Gujral told newspersons that ``the Army has not gone there for excursion but in response to a situation.'' ``It will remain there till the situation warrants,'' the Indian premier stressed.

Replying to questions on the Pakistani claim that the proposed working groups would include the one on Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian Prime Minister maintained that the foreign secretaries of the two countries would meet in June and identify the issues on which the working groups will be set up.On his yesterday's talks with Nawaz Sharif, Gujral said that both he and his Pakistani counterpart had repeatedly stated that the Indo-Pak dialogue was a process and the prime ministerial talks were a step forward in that process. ``Nothing dramatic should be expected from these meetings,'' he said.

Meanwhile, the two-day SAARC summit has decided to advance the deadline for converting the member countries into a South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) from the year 2005 to 2001 and appointed a 15-member group of eminent persons for reappraisal of the SAARC structure.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.