Friday, Jul 26, 2002
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By Sridhar Krishnaswami
"We are confident that you will reiterate that sentiment to President Musharraf as you urge him to keep the commitment to abandon terrorism he has made to our Government, to the international community and to the Pakistani people,'' said Congressmen, Benjamin Gilman and Gary Ackerman, Chairman and Ranking Member respectively of the House International Relations Sub-Committee on the Middle East and South Asia. The senior members of Congress, in a letter to Gen. Powell, however, were sceptical if the particular sentiment will be taken in the right spirit or heard at all. "We are confident that you will deliver the right message, but are greatly concerned that the man on the receiving end of the message does not want to hear it or worse intends to ignore it. There is ample evidence to support this fear,'' they said. The Republican and Democratic members of Congress argued that Gen. Musharraf has been hailed in this country for his decision to side with the U.S. on terrorism and on the steps he had taken domestically; but they questioned the subsequent statements of the Pakistani leader. "No sooner did the international community commend President Musharraf for his rejection of Islamic extremism than he reverted to form in attempting to describe the terrorist acts committed in India as those of `freedom fighters'. Apparently his rejection of terrorism `anywhere in the world' did not include India,'' Mr. Gilman and Mr. Ackerman maintained. Recalling Gen. Powell's own statement that terrorism was not something "where you turn a tap on or off'', they said Gen. Musharraf's commitment on the terrorism front must be permanent and verifiable and this is the "minimum'' that the U.S. should expect out of its "ally'' in the war against terrorism. Turning to the subject of democracy, they said the return to democracy in Pakistan was an issue of "equal importance''.
On Gen. Powell's visit to the sub-continent, the State Department again said that the administration expects to continue its efforts to reduce tensions between India and Pakistan. "We expect to continue our efforts to reduce tensions between them. We look forward to discussing and developing these important bilateral relationships and we want to work with them on how to develop dialogue between them so that they can address the issues between then,including Kashmir'', the spokesman, Richard Boucher, said on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Congressman Frank Pallone called on Gen. Powell to support the Israeli sale of the Arrow Weapon System to India saying that this would be a positive step for Indo-U.S. relations. The Bush administration had said that it was looking into the Israeli request and is examining all issues related to the sale, including regional stability and provisions of the Missile Technology Control Regime. The issue could figure in Gen. Powell's discussions in New Delhi.
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