Dipankar De Sarkar

London, Jan 15 Former External Affairs and Defence Minister Jaswant Singh says he wants to work for peace in South Asia, claiming it was he who put Atal Bihari Vajpayee on a bus to Lahore and thought of an India-Pakistan summit in Agra.

"I will work for peace in South Asia — in Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh — and I want to expand the constituency of peace in our land," Singh told journalists after a launch of the international edition of his book "Jinnah: India, Partition, Independence" in the House of Commons on Wednesday.

Singh outlined his credentials as a regional peacemaker, saying it was he who came up with the idea that then Prime Minister Vajpayee travel to Lahore in a bus.

"Prime ministers don't ordinarily travel by bus. I suggested to Prime Minster Vajpayee — and it was in New York that this suggestion was made — that 'why not travel to Lahore by bus'.

"Vajpayee then addressed the citizens of Pakistan on television where he said: “Enough is enough, let's end this bloodshed."