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Indian Home Minister Seeks US Support
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| Advani and Powell in
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WASHINGTON, Jan. 11 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - India's Home Minister L.K. Advani on Thursday met President George W. Bush and said he had received an assurance that the United States expected Pakistan to "abandon terror as an instrument of state policy."
Bush dropped by a White House meeting between Advani and U.S. national security advisor, Condoleezza Rice, in an unofficial, yet highly symbolic move the White House said was designed to underscore close U.S. ties with India.
"The President conveyed to me that he expected Pakistan and its leader [Pakistani President] General [Pervez] Musharraf to take all necessary steps in fighting terror," Advani told reporters after the meeting. "He had done it in the case of the Taliban, and the president expects him to do it in the case of India also and abandon terror as an instrument of state policy."
The White House assessment of Bush's remarks however, differed significantly in tone from Advani's interpretation of the conversation.
"The President told Minister Advani that he has urged President Musharraf to take appropriate steps against extremists operating in and from Pakistan," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said."The president also stressed the importance of solving the Indo-Pakistan differences through diplomatic and political means."
Advani launched a five-day visit to the United States on Wednesday by lashing out at Pakistan over an attack on India's parliament on December 13.
New Delhi has complained that Pakistan has yet to satisfy its demands for a genuine crackdown following the attack, triggering a dangerous regional crisis, diplomatically and militarily. Islamabad has denied the charge.
Pakistani authorities have arrested the leaders and other members of two groups, Jaish-e-Mohammad (JEM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LET), drawing U.S. praise.
Advani, number two-ranked minister in the Indian cabinet, described his meeting with Bush as "the most important discussions of my tour."
"To hear all this that I had just mentioned from the highest executive of the country makes all the difference," he added.
New Delhi has said a roundup of individuals launched by Islamabad is so far unsatisfactory and Advani on Wednesday issued a four-point set of demands for immediate Pakistan action against what he [Advani] says are terrorists.
The demands included the handover of 20 individuals branded by India as terrorists, and the closure of training camps, arms supply routes and funding of "terrorist" groups on Pakistani soil.
Advani also called on Pakistan to stop individuals from infiltrating the Line of Control in disputed Kashmir and to issue an unequivocal renunciation of "terrorism."
Advani used Wednesday's meetings with top U.S. officials to initiate a new diplomatic campaign against Pakistan, with which it is embroiled in a stand-off that has raised fears of a new war between the two nuclear-armed rivals.
Nearly a month after an attack on India's parliament, Advani vowed to fight "Pak-sponsored cross border terrorism to the finish."
He called for immediate action from Pakistan on a series of demands related to the action of those responsible, branded by India as terrorists.
"Pakistan must act - sincerely, decisively, demonstrably and speedily," Advani said in a statement distributed to reporters at a press conference.
Advani, who has responsibility for internal security, discussed anti-terrorism measures Wednesday with Attorney General John Ashcroft, who agreed to pay him a return visit. He also met CIA chief George Tenet.
Secretary of State, Colin Powell met Advani on Wednesday after announcing he would head to India and Pakistan on a peace mission next week.
He said he would travel in the hope of "making a further contribution ... toward resolving the situation, the crisis, that currently exists in a peaceful manner."
A further two stops may be added to Powell's itinerary later, officials said. The Washington Post reported Wednesday that he was considering a visit to Afghanistan.
Powell has commended Musharraf for his actions against groups India claims were behind the parliament attacks, but urged him to act on the list of 20 individuals India handed to Pakistan.
"With respect to the list of 20, I have seen that list, and I know President Musharraf has the list," Powell told reporters. "We have discussed the list with him - I know he is examining it and I hope he will take appropriate action on the list but it is in his hands."
Advani's visit comes amid signs of increasing Indian frustration with the U.S. stance towards Pakistan - a key ally in America's (so-called) war on terrorism sparked by the September 11 terror attacks on New York and the Pentagon.
India equates the parliament attack, and its struggles with fighters in disputed Kashmir to the deadly September 11 assaults and the subsequent U.S. war in Afghanistan targeting Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.
Pressing home that strategy, Advani lauded India and America as "the Twin Towers of democracy."
"The terrorists may have destroyed the steel and concrete structures of the World Trade Center but they can never harm the structures and the spirit of our two democracies," he said.
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