New Delhi, Dec. 7 :
New Delhi, Dec. 7:
The Prime Minister's advisers are undecided whether Atal Bihari Vajpayee should visit the Renkoji temple in Tokyo where Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's ashes are kept.
Officially, India has yet to
accept that Netaji is dead and that the ashes, which the Japanese claim are his, actually belong to the founder leader of the Indian National Army.
A senior South Block official was tightlipped when asked what Vajpayee will do. 'We are yet to take a final decision,' he said.
Starting from Jawaharlal Nehru, all Indian Prime Ministers who have visited Japan have also visited the temple. If Vajpayee does not, it will be a departure from tradition. If he does, temple authorities will get a chance to renew their demand that the ashes be taken back to India. This will, in turn, shovel fuel into the ashes controversy.
Besides, Vajpayee would also have to write in the visitors' book. Advisers are worried about what he will write. They are also bothered that he may have to tackle sticky queries on India's stand on the ashes during his interactions with the Japanese people.
The main thrust of Vajpayee's visit to Japan is strengthening bilateral relations and convincing business houses that India is an attractive investment destination. During his visits to Osaka and Tokyo, he will interact with the political leadership, captains of Japanese industry and leading intellectuals.
A wrong move on the Netaji ashes, which is a sensitive issue in India and particularly in West Bengal, might mar what could turn out to be a successful visit, the first by an Indian Prime Minister to Japan in nine years.
In November 1999, foreign minister Jaswant Singh had made a faux pas when he assured an elderly Japanese gentleman - who claimed to have fought with Netaji in the INA - that he would take necessary steps to fly back Netaji's ashes to India. Singh's remarks were a departure from the stand India had been maintaining. Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and P.V. Narasimha Rao had managed to sidestep the issue, but Singh could not duck. Officially, India denies that Netaji was killed in the 1945 air crash and has set up a commission to crosscheck the facts leading to his disappearance. But even after several years, it has yet to come up with a conclusive
answer.