"Let us see if Pakistan is ready to make fresh beginning ," he said in reply to a question by newsmen."No comments", Mr. Vajpayee said when his attention was drawn to Pakistan’s statement that no date had been fixed for the complete withdrawal of ‘mujahideen’ from all sectors in Kargil.He said Pakistan should have raised the issue of the Line of Control during the Lahore talks if it had any reservations about it. "Pakistan should know that if we can extend the hand of friendship, we can also teach a lesson if war is thrust on us."

"Pakistan stabbed us in the back and considered the present uncertain political situation an opportune time to push in intruders, but a tide of nationalism swept India which united us like a rock", he said. "Pakistan miscalculated our inner strength and tried to take advantage of political uncertainty and the ensuing Lok Sabha elections, but it boomeranged", Mr. Vajpayee told a rally in Himachal Pradesh.

Mr. Vajpayee said Pakistan had realised its mistake and was now saying that it did not expect such a massive action against a "few intrusions". "We were not trying to create hysteria, but it was the natural response of the nation towards the act of betrayal by Pakistan," he said.He made it clear that India would not wait indefinitely for the intruders to withdraw and they would be thrown out if they refused to leave.The Army had successfully flushed out the intruders and was determined to throw out the last intruder, Mr. Vajpayee said."The conflict is not completely over, but we are not stopping retreating intruders and we expect them to leave immediately," he added.

He said there should be no laxity in defence preparedness even during peace time. The Army should not only have the latest weapons and equipment, but they should be better than that of the enemy.Mr. Vajpayee said the Army would be equipped with the latest weapons and equipment which would be imported to meet the immediate needs, besides, increasing production in ordnance factories.

Paying rich tributes to the armymen killed in Kargil, the Prime Minister said that the Government would take full care of their families and the disabled personnel. If need be, the injured personnel would be sent abroad for treatment, he said.

The Prime Minister expressed satisfaction that the economy had not derailed in spite of war and that
inflation remained under control. Prices were not allowed to rise and the rupee remained firm.

"Even if we were to have peace talks with Pakistan, there will centainly be no slackening of defence preparedness," he said in an interview to Doordarshan.

Mr. Singh said the international community had realised that Pakistan was playing a very dangerous and fatal game of promoting Islamic fundamentalism in Afghanistan. His apprehension was that Pakistan had also been affected internally by this fundamentalism and it was now touching India. "What has happened in Kargil is an extension of Afghanistan and not a fall-out of the situation in Srinagar," he added and said India would have to face this challenge boldly.

Mr. Singh said India was not scared of talking with Pakistan but at the same time it could not be scared into talking. Pakistan would have to learn to respect the sanctity of the LoC and cover a long distance before talks could be resumed, he added.

Asked how Pakistan was able to project itself as a peace loving nation while portraying India in a negative light, Mr. Singh said Islamabad’s ‘real face’ had now been exposed and it stood isolated in the world arena. The Minister said the world now recognised India’s position in the sub-continent and also realised what Pakistan had become. The support for India had strengthened its position, he added.

All the member-countries of the SAARC in India’s neighbourhood understood and appreciated New Delhi’s position on the Kargil issue. He saw no role for NAM in the disputes between India and Pakistan.Mr. Singh admitted that the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) did take a contrary view from what its member-countries individually told India on Indo-Pakistan relations.

"Yeh maut to Allah ko bhi kabool nahi (this sacrifice will not be approved by God also)," wrote Naik Shafat Ali of the Eight Northern Light Infantry (NLI). Shafat Ali had written in his notes that in the name of so-called 'Jehad', the soldiers of 8 NLI were being sacrificed uselessly. Another soldier, Havildar Sher Alki Khan, of the same unit in his last notes to his wife asked her to ensure school education for all their four children but never let them join the Pakistani army.