Words in the News Monday 07 January 2002 Vocabulary from the news. Listen to and read the report then find explanations of difficult words below.
Blair - India and Pakistan talks Summary: The British Prime Minister Tony Blair has now arrived in Islamabad on the latest leg of a regional tour which is hoped will ease tensions between India and Pakistan. This report by Nick Childs.
In public at least neither Mr Blair's visit nor the regional summit in Nepal which just preceded his arrival in Delhi have done anything to alter India's position ondialogue with Pakistan. If Mr Blair was hoping for a softening of India's demands he was quickly disappointed. In a joint news conference the Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee insisted India was for dialogue, but only once Pakistan had done more to rein in the militants. That view has now been underlined by the Indian foreign minister, Jaswant Singh, who declared that Pakistan's position hasn't changed.
Indian officials are sure to welcome Mr Blair's broad denunciation of terrorism without distinction and see it as a vindication of their own stance and diplomacy. But he sidestepped endorsement of India's detailed demands on Pakistan. Any sign of whether there is room for manoeuvre on India's demands will have to await the outcome of the British leader's talks in Islamabad. His ability to influence the two sides was always going to be limited albeit that his efforts were clearly with the blessing of Washington. Mr Blair's visit has received prominent coverage in the media here but not as much as the failure of the recent summit in Nepal to produce a diplomatic breakthrough.
