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Pak over-reacting to military exercises, says Fernandes

Defence Minister George Fernandes today said Pakistan was being unnecessarily apprehensive about India's joint army-airforce military exercises scheduled to begin in a desert area in Rajasthan next month.

Talking to the media at the Patna airport before leaving for the trouble-torn Biharsharif town, the defence minister said conduct of military exercises was a routine affair for any country's defence forces to ensure its "fitness", and this need not cause any anxiety to anybody.

Fernandes said the exercises in the border state had nothing to do with the foreign secretary-level talks between India and Pakistan slated to resume tomorrow in Islamabad.

Treating India as ''a petulant errant'' in this regard was unwarranted as Pakistan had been informed in advance about the military exercises as per the bilateral agreement. On the other hand India was not at all worried over the military exercises in Pakistan either, he said.

He said with relations improving between the two countries, shelling across the Line of Control came down during the last three weeks and he hoped that the relations would improve further.

Meanwhile, the defence minister and Samata Party national president said the Centre had not closed the issue of imposing President's rule in Bihar. The subject was, for the time-being, dropped but not closed for good, he added.

UNI

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