Solana in Islamabad for Latest India-Pakistan Peace Drive
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ISLAMABAD,
July 27 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - European Union Foreign
Policy Chief Javier Solana arrived in Pakistan Saturday amid renewed
international efforts to ease tensions between nuclear rivals India
and Pakistan. Whereas India said it would voice concern to U.S.
Secretary of State Colin Powell over Washington's relationship with
Pakistan, accused by New Delhi of instigating an Islamic rebellion in
disputed Kashmir.
Solana,
who came from New Delhi, meets with Pakistani Foreign Minister Inamul
Haq and President Pervez Musharraf on the second leg of his South
Asian tour, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"The
two sides will discuss political and security matters that include the
present military stand-off," a Foreign Ministry official said as
Solana went into talks with Haq.
The
official said Pakistan wanted to end the impasse, which centers on
alleged incursions into Indian Kashmir.
"What
we could do, we have already done and now it is up to India to move
forward towards peace," he said.
Solana
told a news conference in New Delhi Friday, July 26, that he would
urge Pakistan to do more to curb Islamic rebels allegedly sneaking
into Indian Kashmir to carry out bloody raids.
"I
will convey really that according to the leaders of India,
cross-border terrorism has not disappeared," Solana said.
"It
is true that it diminished, but it still exists, and I will discuss
this with President Musharraf tomorrow (Saturday)."
Solana
will move on to Kabul for talks with President Hamid Karzai on Sunday
as part of a week-long tour of Asia and the Middle East.
On
Monday he will be in Tehran for talks with Iranian leaders including
President Mohammad Khatami and Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi.
As
Solana leaves Islamabad, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell is due
to arrive in the region, first traveling to New Delhi and then to
Islamabad for talks with Musharraf.
Powell
said while en route to New Delhi on Saturday that he would press India
and Pakistan to resume dialogue over Kashmir but expected no
"breakthrough".
He
said his main objective was to keep New Delhi and Islamabad from
slipping back towards war and to urge each to take modest steps to
improve the tense situation.
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Solana, right, with Indian Foreign Minister |
Meanwhile,
Powell arrives Saturday in New Delhi on a lightning trip to the region
to defuse fresh tension between India and Pakistan.
"We
are not in the league where we say you are either with us or not with
us because you are with someone else. An international relationship
isn't conducted in that fashion," Indian Foreign Minister
Yashwant Sinha told Star News television.
But
he added: "So they (the Americans) have a relationship with
Pakistan. To the extent that it impinges on our relationship, we will
raise this issue with them."
New
Delhi removed some sanctions against Islamabad in June after Powell's
deputy, Richard Armitage, said Musharraf promised to end the
infiltration of rebels into the Indian zone of Kashmir, wracked by a
13-year Islamic separatist insurgency.
The
two countries have about a million troops massed along their common
borders since the dispute was sparked by a deadly attack on New
Delhi's parliament complex in December.
The
fierce rivals came close to war following a massacre of Indian
soldiers and their families mid-May, but pulled back from the brink
under intense international diplomatic pressure.
Musharraf
promised to crack down on independence seeking groups but India claims
he failed to deliver.
Pakistan
rejects India's claims of cross-border attacks and accused New Delhi
of avoiding a dialogue to resolve the 54-year dispute over the
Himalayan territory.
British
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw paid a similar visit last week, but
returned home virtually empty-handed as he failed to meet either
Indian Premier Atal Behari Vajpayee or Musharraf.
French
Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin is expected to visit New Delhi
and Islamabad on August 2-3 on a similar peace mission.
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