Powell Calls on
India to Release “Political Prisoners” in Kashmir
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Powell:
We look to India to take further de-escalatory action as
Pakistan makes good on its promises to end infiltration
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NEW
DELHI, July 28 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – U.S. Secretary of
State Colin Powell called here Sunday, July 28, for India to release
“political prisoners” in Kashmir before the insurgency-wracked
state heads to the polls later this year.
Speaking
to reporters ahead of talks with top Indian leaders, Powell also
reiterated his call for India and Pakistan to take further action to
end a half-year standoff in which one million troops have been
deployed to the nuclear powers’ common borders, Agence France-Presse
(AFP) reported.
“”
of rebels in Kashmir, he said.
He
said that in separate meetings Sunday with Indian Prime Minister Atal
Behari Vajpayee and Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf he
would discuss “the tensions that exist between India and Pakistan
and spell out further steps both sides can take to dispel the
tensions.”
Powell
said Kashmir’s election, expected in October, “can be the first
step in a process that addresses Kashmiri grievances” and that
“permitting independent observers and freeing political prisoners
will be helpful” in making the polls “inclusive.”
Powell
said that in talks late Saturday, July 27, with Indian Foreign
Minister Yashwant Sinha he called in particular for the release of
“those who could have a positive role in turnout” for the
election, which most separatists have pledged to boycott.
The
top U.S. diplomat said that in talks later Sunday in Pakistan he would
call on Islamabad to make “every effort to avoid disturbing these
efforts” for a free election.
India
accuses Pakistan of fomenting the Islamic separatist insurgency that
has left dead at least 36,500 people in Kashmir since 1989.
Powell’s
deputy, Richard Armitage, said in June he had secured a pledge from
Pakistan to end the infiltration of rebels into the Indian zone of
Kashmir, a key condition set by New Delhi after a December attack on
its parliament that sent tensions soaring in South Asia.
“The
situation has improved considerably over the past month,” Powell
said.
He
said that while there has been a reduction in the flow of rebels over
the disputed Kashmir border, “it seems clear that infiltration is
continuing and we must make every effort to end it.”
New
Delhi is hoping the Kashmir election will pass off peacefully, thereby
easing Kashmiris’ criticism that India has not allowed its sole
Muslim-majority state to choose its own leaders.
But
two of the executive members of Kashmir’s main separatist alliance,
the All Party Hurriyat Conference, have been detained this year: Yasin
Malik and Syed Ali Gilani.
Another
prominent moderate in the alliance, Abdul Gani Lone, was assassinated
by unknown gunmen in May.
The
Hurriyat has said it will not participate in the vote, amid widespread
accusations that past elections in Kashmir have been rigged.
Sinha
has already rebuffed calls for international monitors in the Kashmir
election, but Powell held out hope India would accept
“independent” observers not necessarily affiliated with any
international body or foreign country.
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