|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
 |
 |
    |
|
|
|||
 |
|
||
|
|||
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
South Asia: India Should Take Lead in Peace Process, Musharraf Says By Mike Nartker The “onus” of peace in the region is on India because it is the larger country, Musharraf said during a speech at the Capitol Hilton hotel in Washington. If a large country over-compromises on certain issues in the name of peace, it is seen as greatness; while if a smaller country were to do the same, it would be seen as a sign of weakness, Musharraf said, adding that Pakistan would also work for peace. Musharraf praised recent progress in India-Pakistani relations, saying they are “at last showing some prospect of movement.” He added that he welcomed a number of recent statements made by Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the role the United States has played in the region, both of which have helped to reduce tensions. Musharraf said he looked forward to a resumption of dialogue between India and Pakistan. Pakistan hopes to be able to work with India on a basis of “sovereign equality,” he said, adding that Pakistan could not compromise on this point. Musharraf also said that he and Pakistani Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali were ready to acknowledge Vajpayee as a “partner” in any peace process. Musharraf reiterated his multiple-stage approach for an Indian-Pakistani peace process, which he said would have to begin with a resumption of dialogue. “We don’t even play cricket,” he said. India and Pakistan also would both have to accept that the disputed province of Kashmir is the main issue to be resolved for greater peace. According to recent media reports, Musharraf has criticized Indian suggestions that Kashmir is only one of several issues the two countries need to resolve. While saying that Pakistan does not “believe in violence as a means to peace,” Musharraf appeared to offer tacit support for Islamic militants in Kashmir — militants that India has called on Pakistan to do more to prevent the militants’ infiltration into Kashmir. “We know militancy is often a response to state repression and a refusal to countenance peaceful political movements of protests on behalf of rights that have been denied,” Musharraf said. According to Indian media reports, U.S. President George W. Bush called on Musharraf during a meeting earlier this week at Camp David to do more to stop cross-border terrorism. “I think the president put it about as well as anybody can, which is what we expect and what we think Musharraf needs to commit to — and we think he has committed to — is a hundred percent effort at trying to stop cross-border incidents. I’ll leave it at that,” The Hindu quoted a senior Bush administration official as saying. Musharraf yesterday rejected a suggestion put forth by a member of the audience at his address in Washington that the Line of Control dividing Kashmir be made a permanent border. “The two countries have fought three wars on the Line of Control — now how can LoC, a dispute, can be a solution of the issue?” the Business Recorder reported. Proliferation Concerns In his address yesterday, Musharraf once again denied allegations that Pakistan has sent nuclear technology to North Korea in exchange for ballistic missile technology, saying such allegations were the “story of the past” and a “closed chapter” (see GSN, April 2). He pledged that Pakistan would never proliferate nuclear or missile technologies and that it would not receive such technologies from other countries. Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program is self-sufficient, Musharraf said. “Our scientists are capable enough,” he added. U.S. Aid to Pakistan Musharraf also denied yesterday that a proposed U.S. five-year, $3 billion economic and security assistance package was linked to proliferation concerns. Bush announced the aid proposal Tuesday during a joint conference with Musharraf following their Camp David meeting. A senior Bush administration official said Tuesday, however, that Pakistan would have to cooperate with the United States in several areas, including ensuring against future proliferation, to receive the proposed aid. “I’m not calling those ‘conditions,’ but let’s be realistic, three years down the road, if things are going badly in those areas, it’s not going to happen. We’re not going to request it, Congress won’t appropriate it. And that is a bargain that the Pakistanis are entering into with their eyes wide open,” the senior administration official said. In announcing the assistance proposal, Bush said that defense aid would not include the sale of new F-16 fighters to Pakistan — long a sticking point in U.S.-Pakistani relations. The senior administration official said, however, that Pakistan is expected to request upgrades and repairs for their existing fleet of an estimated 32 F-16s — a request the United States is “perfectly willing to consider.” “But, frankly, there is just too much other stuff that Pakistan needs right now for us to go into the business of new F-16s,” the official said.
| ||||||||||
Back to top
