International   

U.S. drops move to invite Pak.

By Amit Baruah

NEW YORK SEPT. 11. The United States has withdrawn a proposal to invite Pakistan to the "Community of Democracies" meeting in Seoul, South Korea, from November 10-12.

Following resistance from India, the U.S. said it had withdrawn the proposal to invite Pakistan as an "observer'' or in some other capacity to the meeting.

Informed sources said that when officials coordinating the details of the meeting met on Tuesday, the American representative maintained that Washington's proposal to invite Pakistan was no longer on the agenda.

It is of considerable interest that the U.S. had earlier put forward such a proposal at all given the fact that Pakistan is still under military rule and the elections in that country are still a month away. The jury, as they say, is still out on how free and fair the elections will be in Pakistan and for Washington to actively promote the participation of Islamabad in the "Community of Democracies'' does seem to strike a jarring note.

The "Community of Democracies" held a ministerial meeting back in June 2000 in Warsaw, Poland, and was seen as an effort on the part of the U.S. to give "direction'' to the newly-emerging democracies in the world.

At that time, it had been suggested that India host the ministerial meeting, but finally the task was taken up by Poland. However, India was seen as one of those in the "vanguard'' of the Warsaw conference along with the Czech Republic, Portugal, Chile, South Korea, India and the U.S. The American proposal in itself shows how far Washington is prepared to go to accommodate Pakistan as Islamabad co-operates in the battle against the Taliban and the Al-Qaeda.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

International

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Terrorist attacks likely, says U.S.
• The war will continue: Bush
• A day that changed America
• Britain remembers victims
• Primakov favours talks with Chechnya rebels
• A Musharraf surprise
• Pak. condemns attack
• Arafat schedules polls for Jan. 20
• U.S. closes embassy in Jakarta
• 'Do not link terror attacks, Iraq'
• U.S. drops move to invite Pak.
• The focus is on Iraq at U.N. session
• U.K. slams assassination

Copyright © 2002, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu