YASHWANT SINHA, INDIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: It`s unpredictable. We have seen the pattern in the past - terrorists attack at will. They attack soft targets, they attack civilians and it`s very difficult to predict when and where they will attack. We are taking all the steps which are necessary. Our Independence Day is tomorrow and, naturally, all precautions have been taken by the central government, by the provincial governments, to make sure that no untoward incident takes place.

JANA WENDT: What kind of hard information do you have about where these kinds of attacks might come from?

YASHWANT SINHA: I`m not in a position to share that information with you, Ms Wendt, that must remain confidential. But I would only like to tell you that whatever intelligence reports we have, we are acting on them and we are trying to thwart the activity of terrorists.

JANA WENDT: Are your intelligence reports in general, though, telling you that these will be attacks by Pakistan-based extremists?

YASHWANT SINHA: When we say "Pakistan-based extremists", they are people who are foreigners, they`re not Indians. They have been trained, armed and financed by Pakistan. They come within Indian territory and carry out their activities, and these are the kind of people, yeah, from whom...

JANA WENDT: This sounds as though you have hard evidence in your mind, at least, that these are in fact groups that are trained in Pakistan.

YASHWANT SINHA: Yes, of course. I am talking about absolutely incontrovertible, hard evidence. The whole world knows, Ms Wendt, that there are terrorist camps in Pakistan, particularly in part-occupied Kashmir and no terrorist camp can exist without the approval, express involvement, of the government.

JANA WENDT: Now this brings us, of course, to this very vexed issue. General Musharraf has outlawed a number of terrorist groups. In his speech today he certainly spoke out against hardline Islamist extremism within his own country. Why are you still not satisfied that he has done all he can?

YASHWANT SINHA: For the simple reason that terrorists are still coming from across the border of Pakistan, that they are still being financed, they are still being armed, they are still being trained, they`re still communicating with each other, and the entire infrastructure of terrorism, which has been so assiduously built up by Pakistan, is still fully in place. That`s the reason why his condemnation of Islamic or other terrorism sounds false.

JANA WENDT: Well, the US clearly has a great deal of confidence in General Musharraf. Do you believe that the US is giving the general too much latitude?

YASHWANT SINHA: Well, they have a relationship, and we don`t begrudge them their relationship, but we have our problems and we`ll deal with the problems. In fact, the way we want to deal with it, and as long as this cross-border terrorism and infiltration from Pakistan continues, we will have reasons to feel concerned.

JANA WENDT: Your top diplomat Kanwal Sibal is quoted as saying that the US is giving the general "A lot of room to play with ambiguities on terrorism so that he has an `alibi` when terrorism takes place in Kashmir." Do you share that view?

YASHWANT SINHA: Of course I share that view, because what our permanent secretary has said is a reflection of what the government of India feels, and it is quite true that General Musharraf comes out with all kinds of excuses and uses arguments whenever they suit him. And he contradicts himself in the process, he does not come out cogently and he has publicly disowned what he has privately said, so there is a lot of contradiction in his behaviour, in his statements.

JANA WENDT: So, Minister, this sounds to me that although we`re back from the brink of that stand-off a couple of months ago between your two countries, it sounds as though there is precious little trust between your two countries at the moment.

YASHWANT SINHA: There is no trust. We have been betrayed on a number of occasions already by no less a person than President Musharraf, or General Musharraf, and we do not find enough evidence yet to be able to trust him. As I mentioned to you just now, he`s given assurances in private and he has publicly disowned those assurances, so how do you get to trust such a person?

JANA WENDT: The United States at least seems very keen for your two countries to get back to some kind of dialogue. Your Defence Minister, on the other hand, has said that US and British calls for dialogue "Don`t mean much for the India-Pakistan face-off." Again, do you agree with that?

YASHWANT SINHA: Well, we have stated our position very, very clearly to whoever has talked to us, and also to the world at large. We have said that there was an assurance given by President Musharraf that there will be a permanent end to infiltration from across the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir, that there will be a decline and permanent end to infiltration will be visible. That he will take action to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism, including the terrorist training camps. Now we have seen some decline in the levels of infiltration, but we have seen no action on the other issues - namely, the infrastructure of terrorism - and quite clearly, as long as that is going on, there will be terrorist violence in India and that is not conducive at all for talks. India has in the last four years taken initiative on two very important occasions when our Prime Minister travelled to Lahore, when he invited President Musharraf to Agra to initiate a dialogue, but all of it led to nothing. So nobody can say that India is not interested in a dialogue. India has always taken the initiative for a dialogue. But at this point of time when we are facing an undeclared war, we have to bring this situation under control before talks become worthwhile.

JANA WENDT: Well, let me turn now to the upcoming elections in Kashmir. How does India answer Pakistan`s charge that the election as planned will be a "farce", in their terms, since Kashmiris can`t choose between India and Pakistan?

YASHWANT SINHA: It`s a very useless argument, facetious argument that they have been given for a long time. It`s not a new argument. There have been elections in Jammu and Kashmir for five decades now. Every time people have expressed their will, the will of the people was expressed when the state of Jammu and Kashmir decided to accede to India, so there is no question of that will to be expressed again, and Pakistan is now bound by the Shimla Agreement, they are bound by the Lahore Declaration. Regimes might change, but countries can`t change their position with change of regimes. International and bilateral covenants are sacrosanct unless they`re divided by consent, so Pakistan is bound by the Shimla Agreement and we are prepared to discuss all issues with Pakistan. We have repeatedly said so. But for Pakistan to say this election is a farce, are the Pakistani elections very genuine? Was the referendum genuine? A country which does not have democracy, if that country makes a comment on the will of the people, then it sounds, to say the least, like a joke.

JANA WENDT: Minister, let me move quickly on to the subject of Iraq. The Iraqi Ambassador to India has asked that your country intercede with the United States on its behalf to try to change its mind about perhaps attacking Iraq. Will India do that?

YASHWANT SINHA: Well, I don`t know whether the US Administration has made up its mind to attack Iraq. There have been media reports about it. But we have already made our position very clear, that there should be no armed attack on Iraq. That will serve no purpose. It will indeed be counterproductive. And this is a position which is well known.

JANA WENDT: But will you intercede on Iraq`s behalf with the United States?

YASHWANT SINHA: Well, if we have any hard information, then we`ll not hesitate to talk to the US.

JANA WENDT: Mr Sinha, just finally, the former US Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, has suggested that one of the possible results of a US strike on Iraq would be that India follows suit and launches a pre-emptive strike on Pakistan. Would that kind of logic have a part to play in your thinking?

YASHWANT SINHA: No, it will not. If we wanted a pre-emptive strike against Pakistan, there were many provocations in the past and we could have done it. We are a country which believes in restraint and that`s exactly what we have shown in our relationship with Pakistan. So if the US were to attack Iraq, that would certainly not be an example for us to follow.

JANA WENDT: Yashwant Sinha, I`m afraid we must leave it there, but I very much appreciate your time tonight.