The Hindu : Infiltration in Kashmir has gone down, says U.S.

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, May 06, 2002

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Infiltration in Kashmir has gone down, says U.S.

"WEATHER OR POLITICAL ACTIONS COULD BE RESPONSIBLE"

By Malini Parthasarathy

The U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, Richard Amitage (file photo).

WASHINGTON May 5. Infiltration across the Line of Control in Kashmir from Pakistan has declined recently, in the assessment of the United States, senior Bush administration officials say. But they reserve judgment as to the significance of that statistic, stating that it is not yet clear as to whether it is a result of "deliberate actions" or just because of the weather conditions.

Speaking to this newspaper in an exclusive conversation at his seventh floor office in the State Department last Friday, the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, Richard Armitage, said that it was clear that "cross-border infiltration has gone down" but given that the snows had only just begun to melt in the area, it would be possible to "get a better sense" of the situation only now to determine whether the decrease in infiltration reflected the result of "deliberate actions" or the weather. "In the winter when there's snow, there is some reduction anyway... so it is difficult for me to sit here on May 1 and tell you that the reduction is because of a definite political will...," Mr. Armitage said. But, he noted, the Bush administration has had discussions with Pakistan's President, Pervez Musharraf, on the subject and does believe that his "intentions are to do just that" but "it will take a while to see if he's been successful."

'We have to bring down the temperature'

The U.S. Deputy Secretary of State confirmed the active role of the United States in speaking to both India and Pakistan to calm the simmering tensions. "President Musharraf knows perfectly well, just as the Government of India knows perfectly well, we are talking with both sides," he said. The American effort, he explained, is "first of all, to try to reduce the level of potential violence as well as the actual level of violence across the LoC in Kashmir... in the first instance, we have to bring down the temperature... we are devoting a lot of efforts towards that."

The Bush administration has had discussions with the Government of India "about the need to be balanced and measured." Likewise, with Pakistan's President Musharraf. The U.S.-Pakistan discussions focussed "additionally on the need to stop the cross-border terrorism," Mr. Armitage said. He also pointed out that the U.S. Government had placed the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Jaish-e-Mohammed on the terrorism list to indicate its own view "of what sort of groups are undermining stability in South Asia."

Indicating that the primary concern of the United States in respect of the tensions between India and Pakistan was that both countries had nuclear weapons, Mr. Armitage said: "To the extent that two highly armed armies face each other over a volatile situation, there is always a possibility of a spark and I fear that spark... it's more the unintended consequences that can come from having two spring-loaded armies facing each other over a volatile situation that I fear..."

Highlighting the enhanced international scrutiny of the military capabilities of the two nuclear states was Mr. Armitage's pointed observation during the course of the conversation that "We don't like the fact that both India and Pakistan are nuclear... we'll be looking very carefully at delivery systems, ranges and things like that. We'll be doing our best to try to bring down the temperature in South Asia and I am talking about political temperature so that one side or the other will never even contemplate the possibility of the use of nuclear weapons."

`De facto' nuclear states

Asked whether there was now on the part of the United States a conceptual acceptance of the nuclear status of India and Pakistan, the Deputy Secretary said that while the big five powers had de jure status, there was no question that India and Pakistan had become "de facto" nuclear states because of their nuclear devices. "We don't like it and no one else likes it but it is a fact and so that's where we are...," he observed.

Was there any suggestion either from Washington or an offer from New Delhi to station American troops in India to assist the U.S. military operations in Afghanistan? Mr. Armitage's response was that he did not see the necessity for that. "I don't think we've requested... and I just can't imagine why we would want to station troops in India... (but) the interesting thing about this war on terrorism is that we're not sure where it goes next. So I wouldn't rule anything out."

New Delhi `very helpful'

He said that New Delhi had "been very helpful" in assisting with the "logistics and flights... " and what was more significant is that the U.S.-India military-to-military relationship was now "astronomically different" from what it had been in the last year, with the number of high-profile visits of military delegations increasing from the U.S. to India and the fact of arms sales, including the latest sale of the AN/TPQ 37 firefinder radars. He also noted appreciatively the enhanced level of cooperation between the navies of the two countries. "We love the idea of being able to call on occasion on Indian ports, naval ships... we hope it will be good for U.S.-India relations."

Praise for Musharraf's decision

Asked as to whether the United States was assured of the political stability of its ally in the war on terror, Pakistan's President Musharraf, in the context of the recent referendum and the consequent political polarisation, Mr. Armitage was all praise for Gen. Musharraf's "fundamental" decision last September to "take Pakistan out of the cul-de sac (which) he recognised as a dead end... " and to join the United States in its war. Mr. Armitage noted that fears then about whether Gen. Musharraf could pull it off in the face of the angry street protests in Pakistan last year had proven groundless. Even at this moment, it was for Gen. Musharraf to "be the judge of how much stability is there in his government... "

On the controversial referendum and the issue of democracy in Pakistan, Mr. Armitage said: "Our view regarding Pakistan is that 140 plus million people deserve better governance than they've got in recent years even under fully democratic governments and... President Musharraf has promised us that there will be parliamentary elections in the fall that will be open and fair and full and in which the Oppositon will speak their mind as appropriate. We trust that he will be a man of his word."

Asked whether the United States was satisfied with the pace and manner of the investigation of the murder of the American journalist, Daniel Pearl, by Pakistani authorities, Mr. Armitage said that there were aspects about which the U.S. had questions but it believed that the Pakistani authorities were "trying to do the right thing, they have a lot of questions to be answered... it affects their own security. We are getting cooperation..."

`No compromises on human rights, democracy'

In response to a question as to whether the Bush administration's policy focus on combating terrorism was not resulting in an erosion of emphasis on human rights and democracy, especially in the context of Palestine, Mr. Armitage said that the question implied the suggestion that the United States was "suborning or seconding human rights and democratic development" and that the U.S. was "making compromises" in order to retain its focus on terrorism. He strongly rejected the suggestion, observing that he had noticed that "there are some in India who have accused the United States of giving President Musharraf a break on his recent referendum" in order to keep him on the side of the U.S. in the war on terrorism, but "we are equally criticised for not criticising the Government of India for the activities of sectarian violence in Gujarat... so we're always walking a tightrope ourselves..."

On a broader plane, he pointed out that the criticism of even close allies of the U.S. such as Israel in the State Department's annual reports on human rights, religious freedom and trafficking in persons indicated that the administration had "not backed away from criticising even those who are in the alliance with us when it is appropriate to do so... you will see that this will be the case next year when we roll out... the reports."

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