'Indo-Pak. talks can't be productive until violence ends'

WASHINGTON, OCT 4. Pointing out that terrorist violence in Jammu and Kashmir has increased, the United States has asserted that talks between India and Pakistan can never be productive "when a gun is being held to the head of the other party."

"There is no question that there is incompatibility between continued violence in Kashmir and dialogue," the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, Mr. Karl Inderfurth, said in an interview to Voice of America which has been put on its website.

Stating that while Indo-Pakistan dialogue is absolutely essential to find a solution to the Kashmir issue acceptable to both the countries, Mr. Inderfurth said rejection of violence means that there is no military solution to the problem.

Maintaining that violence has increased in the valley, he said "first place to begin is to lower the level of violence so that there can be an environment in which talks could be productive. Talks are never productive when a gun is being held to the head of the other party."

He said the U.S. believed that on both sides there are those who want to see the peace process to begin but there are also those who do not want to see it start.

He identified those who do not want the peace process to begin as various militant groups and those "who cannot see the future and are only tied to the past."

Calling for flexibility on the part of India and Pakistan for a resolution of the problem, Mr. Inderfurth said "both sides will have to recognise that whatever agreement is reached, it must be acceptable to both New Delhi and Islamabad and vice versa."

In the interview, Mr. Inderfurth answered questions relating to growing Indo-U.S. relations, talks on the nuclear issue between the two countries and India's economic reforms programme.

Referring to the several rounds of talks between the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, mr. Strobe Talbott, and the External Affairs Minister, Mr. Jaswant Singh, he said the U.S. recognised that it was necessary to reconcile America's proliferation concerns with India's security concerns.

"We have entered into discussion with India with a firm understanding that it has its own perception of its securityneeds. At the end of the day, it will make its own sovereign decisions," he said.

Noting the recent improvement in Sino-India relations, he said China is a very large and important player in Asia and,indeed, globally and so is India.

On New Delhi's claim for U.N. Security Council permanent membership, he did not commit us support for it but said "its (India) size, its role in the world, its economy, its contribution to U.N. peacekeeping, all those things make it a very serious and strong contender."

- PTI

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Section  : International
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