|
Powell Assures Pakistan on Post-Taliban Afghanistan, Pushes Kashmir Dialogue
ISLAMABAD, Oct 16 (News Agencies) - U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell moved Tuesday to reassure Pakistan on its domestic economic concerns as well as fears about U.S. policy for its two largest and closest neighbors - Afghanistan to its west and India to its east.
Powell told President Pervez Mursharraf that Pakistan's cooperation with the U.S.-led anti-terrorism coalition, now launching air strikes on Afghanistan, marked the start of a new era in ties between Washington and Islamabad.
At a joint news conference, he said Musharraf's decision to join the coalition despite the threat of violent and potentially destabilizing protests had been "bold and courageous" and would be rewarded.
"In the coming months, the United States will take concrete steps to strengthen Pakistan's economy and further broaden our commercial and trade ties," Powell said, noting in particular the need to reschedule the country's crippling debt.
A senior U.S. official traveling with Powell told reporters later that Pakistan stood to receive some $500 million in additional economic support once Congress passed pending legislation that would allow the waiver of sanctions imposed two years ago when Musharraf took power in a coup.
The official also said Musharraf had vowed to keep to a promise of holding democratic elections next year.
Musharraf said the decision to support the coalition had been one of principle and Pakistan was in it for the long haul, although he voiced hope the campaign would be short and avoid civilian casualties.
"To this extent we will certainly carry on cooperating as long as the operation lasts," he said.
Musharraf also vowed to check "extremism" in Pakistan, which has been rocked by a series of violent anti-U.S. protests by religious activists.
"I think these are extremist views, these are extremist tendencies [but] they are not widely based at all in Pakistan," he said. "We need to take long-term action to protect against such extremist views."
Powell addressed two of Pakistan's biggest regional concerns by pledging that Washington would only back a post-Taliban government in Afghanistan that was friendly to its neighbors, and identified the dispute over Kashmir as "central" to relations between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan.
"There is no doubt that we both have a common goal to see that the Afghan government is one that will represent all the people of Afghanistan and a regime that obviously will be friendly to all its neighbors, including Pakistan," Powell said.
He said all elements of Afghan society must be included in any discussion of the future of Afghanistan - including the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance and "southern tribal leaders," an apparent reference to the Pashtun ethnic group currently represented by the Taliban.
"The term 'Taliban' defines the current regime, but it also defines a group of individuals or people, and if you got rid of the regime, there would still be those who might find the teachings and the feelings and beliefs of that movement still very important," Powell said.
"To the extent that they are willing to participate in the development of a new Afghanistan with everybody being represented we would have to listen to them or at least take them into account.
"You can't send them to another country, you can't ethnically cleanse Afghanistan after this is over, but you can certainly get rid of this particular regime," he said.
Musharraf said he and Powell had agreed that durable peace in Afghanistan was only possible through a "broad-based, multi-ethnic government" established without outside interference.
He said the process of establishing a new regime could involve former Afghan king Zahir Shah, the Northern Alliance and elements in the Taliban.
Musharraf said the Taliban was to blame for the present suffering of millions of Afghans, but not every member of the regime was to blame for the refusal to surrender Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect in last month's terrorist attacks in the United States.
"Extremism is not in every Taliban," Musharraf said. "I wouldn't like to get into the details of who are moderates, but we know for sure there are many moderates in the Taliban."
Powell said the Islamic militia was losing support both inside Afghanistan and abroad, but would not predict when the pressure would cause it to collapse. "I just cannot put a time on that," he said.
Powell, who arrived in New Delhi Tuesday evening for talks with Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, agreed with Musharraf that Kashmir is "central" to the relationship between New Delhi and Islamabad.
The secretary of state's visit comes one day after Indian forces shelled Pakistani posts across the disputed border in Kashmir.
"We too believe the Kashmir issue is central to the relationship," Powell said in remarks likely to anger India, which opposes Pakistan's view that Kashmir is the "core" issue in their ties and must be addressed before all others.
"I will press upon both sides ... that dialogue between the two sides is important," Powell said, offering to be "helpful" if both countries wanted the United States to play a role.
Islamabad has long been seeking U.S. or U.N. mediation over Kashmir. India opposes any third party intervention on the grounds Kashmir is an integral part of its sovereign territory.
"Mutual respect for each other, a desire to accommodate the aspirations of the Kashmiri people and respect for avoiding confrontation and understanding that provocation is to be avoided ... is the most important thing that is needed now," Powell said.
|
