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Powell Carries New Ideas To India
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| Powell lauded Pakistan’s willingness to hold dialogue with India |
By IOL correspondent, Aamir Latif
ISLAMABAD, Jan. 17 (IslamOnline & News Agencies)- U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powell, indicated that he was carrying some fresh ideas to New Delhi, with a view to defusing a month-long tension between Pakistan and India.
"I may have some fresh ideas, which I would first share with the Indian leadership before sharing them with the rest of the world," Powell said at a joint press conference Wednesday with Pakistan's Foreign Minister, Abdul Sattar, after meeting President, Pervez Musharraf in Islamabad.
He said that over the past couple of weeks, U.S. President, George W. Bush, and his administration had remained in touch with both sides and they had seen some progress. "Tomorrow when I meet Mr. [Jaswant] Singh and others, we will review the outstanding issues and the progress that has been made," he added.
The U.S. secretary of state, who left for New Delhi Thursday afternoon, said that his efforts would remain in finding ways that would result in a de-escalation of both rhetoric and military buildup and retracing diplomatic steps that had been taken previously.
Pakistani Foreign Minister, Abdul Sattar, said that the government would give a prompt and positive response to Indian moves towards troop withdrawal. He said Pakistan would immediately respond to any Indian initiative towards de-escalation of military buildup.
Lauding action against Pakistani extremist organizations, the U.S. secretary of state said that these steps had given meaning to Musharraf’s January 12 speech in which he said he would ban various groups.
He hoped that Musharraf's speech and actions would go a long way towards lowering tension in the region. He said the challenge for India and Pakistan was to demonstrate that regional issues could best be resolved through dialogue.
"Even the most difficult issues can be resolved through dialogue," he said, and appreciated Pakistan's willingness for holding negotiations.
During his meeting with President Musharraf, the U.S. secretary appreciated the president's determination to transform Pakistan into a moderate and modern state. He added that the United States and the world community were with him in this new path of confronting extremists.
When asked whether the steps taken so far by Musharraf were enough, Powell said he had done a great deal and he would be doing more in the coming months to bring his vision of transforming Pakistan into a modern state to reality.
Powell said that whatever he had heard and seen in Pakistan he would discuss with Indian leaders and find the way and means to move towards de-escalation and resumption of dialogue. "The important thing now is for both sides to make a political judgement that way out of this crisis is political and diplomatic and not through conflict," he added.
Concerning the issue of Kashmir, Powell said it should be resolved through dialogue. He said the United States would encourage both sides to initiate dialogue and would help in creating an atmosphere conducive to talks.
When asked whether the United States would like to act as a facilitator in the resumption of dialogue between Pakistan and India, he said they would certainly like to see the beginning of a dialogue.
However, he said, both parties would find the United States ready if they need any help in the peace process.
Earlier, Abdul Sattar explained that the recent measures taken by the Pakistani government to clamp down on the Pakistani organizations, were part of its policy and objective enunciated in President Musharraf's first speech after taking over in 1999.
Commenting on Jaswant Singh's reaction to the president's speech, Abdul Sattar said it was "uncharacteristically positive". He said they did not regard it as negative.
The military build-up, he said, did not serve the interests of the people of both Pakistan and India. Had the Agra summit succeeded, Abdul Sattar added, the two countries would have a structure of dialogue to take up different issues.
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