The Hindu : U.S. hails Pak. role in anti-terror campaign

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jul 25, 2002

International

International

U.S. hails Pak. role in anti-terror campaign

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON JULY 24. The Bush administration has once again rejected India's call to brand Pakistan as a terrorist state. The statement to this effect came not from the State Department but from the White House. In fact, the United States has hailed, for yet another time, the steps taken by the President of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, for curbing cross-border terrorism and for the support against the Al-Qaeda.

"President Musharraf has taken strong action in the war against terror. And that includes against Al-Qaeda or the Taliban, as well as taking steps to diminish the cross-border incursions into Kashmir. And the President (George W. Bush) is pleased with the actions that the President Musharraf has taken," the White House spokesman, Ari Fleischer, said. The spokesman was responding to a question on the kind of message the Secretary of State, Colin Powell, may be taking to India later this week, especially in the context of the demand by the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, that the United States declare Pakistan a terrorist state.

"The situation between India and Pakistan has twice, this year, reached almost a boiling point. And as a result of a lot of intervention and diplomacy by the President, by the State Department and by the Secretary, Colin Powell's travels to the region, that situation has been managed to the point now where the situation is more defused; the risk of violence is defused," Mr. Fleischer remarked.

"And that's going to be an ongoing part of America's diplomacy in the region. It's an area of the world the United States is going to continue to actively work," the spokesman added.

Meanwhile at the State Department, the spokesman, Richard Boucher, said that the administration was considering an Israeli request to transfer the Arrow missile system to India; and was not sure if this issue would be discussed during the coming visit of the Secretary of State. The law, commitments and issues were being considered, Mr. Boucher, said on Tuesday. "...we're all concerned about stability in South Asia. We're all concerned ... emphasise the importance of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR). So these are issues we've been discussing with the Israeli Government. At this point, we have not given a definitive answer to the Israeli request, but...we continue to discuss the issue in Washington," he said.

"Stability in the region as a whole is a factor. These decisions, because they do involve long-term changes and introductions of weapons systems, have to be made with a larger perspective than this week's events or last week's events," Mr. Boucher said, going on to stress the importance of the MTCR, which prohibits the proliferation of certain kinds of missiles and systems. He was asked why Washington would not view the Israeli sale of the Arrow system favourably given that India was a democracy; or if the administration had some reason to believe that the system could be used against Pakistan.

"...until we have a definitive answer — yes or no — I can't give you all the arguments one way or the other. They're still being discussed. They're still being considered. The law's being considered, commitments are being considered and the issues are being considered," Mr. Boucher said.

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