Sunday, Sep 15, 2002
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By Sridhar Krishnaswami
"Since nothing else was going on between India and Pakistan for the last year or so, except cross-border terrorism, where is the question of the clock being set back or forward? It is all the same,'' Mr. Mishra said in response to a question. "Of course, Gen. Musharraf's speech, as he himself said, was born out of desperation. Then he should do something to get out of the desperate situation rather than bring in subjects in the General Assembly. Normally, heads of state and heads of government do not get into the kind of language which he used in the General Assembly. But we will leave it to his better judgment.'' Briefing mediapersons, Mr. Mishra said that New Delhi did not agree with the United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan's assessment of the situation in South Asia. Mr. Annan, in his remarks on Thursday, had referred to the region as one of the four current threats faced by the international community. "The situation may now have calmed down a little, but it remains perilous. The underlying cause must be addressed.'' India and the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, Mr. Mishra said, had specifically asked "those who want to know the underlying causes to justify what was done on September 11 last year and December 13 last year.'' Based on what the U.S. officials had told him, Mr. Mishra said that the U.S. President, George W. Bush, had indeed given a "hard message'' to Gen. Musharraf on both cross-border terrorism and sponsorship of violence leading up to the polls and during the elections to the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly. "In fact, I can convey to you that he (Mr. Bush) did speak in very strong terms to Gen. Musharraf,'' Mr. Mishra said. He had been present during the meeting between Mr. Bush and Mr. Vajpayee; had a luncheon session with Mr. Bush's National Security Adviser, Condoleezza Rice; and the Deputy Secretary of State, Richard Armitage, had come from Washington for a meeting with him. On the Bush-Vajpayee meeting, Mr. Mishra said that the President had reiterated the "total commitment'' of his country against terrorism, and said that he would pressure Gen. Musharraf on Pakistan's need to stop cross-border terrorism and violence. Mr. Bush had also said that he and Mr. Vajpayee would, together, put in place a "strong foundation'' for a long-term bilateral relationship. In all the Indo-U.S. meetings so far, though regional issues and India-Pakistan relations had figured, the thrust and focus had been on bilateral relations with the two sides pledging to intensify exchanges in a number of areas, including science and technology, high technology and civilian nuclear fields. Steps would be taken shortly on the implementation aspects. On Iraq, Mr. Mishra said that India had taken a two-fold position for long: that action for the implementation of the U.N. resolutions should be under the aegis of the U.N.; and that as and when Iraq complied with the terms of the resolutions, the sanctions should be lifted.
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