U.S. stand on Kashmir ambiguous: Pak.

WASHINGTON, APRIL 16. Pakistan today took strong exception to the ``ambiguous stand'' of the United States on the Kashmir imbroglio, saying it amounted to giving India an upper hand on the issue.

The U.S. stand that it would enter the scene only if all parties to the crisis accepted its mediation, amounted to giving India a veto on all peacemaking efforts in Kashmir, said Pakistan's Ambassador to the U.S., Ms. Maleeha Lodhi, in a hard- hitting interview to a community Internet programme.

She said the U.S. was welcome to redefine its relationship with its Cold War adversary India as long it was done in a fair and even-handed manner.

``It is not a zero-sum game as far as Pakistan is concerned. It is not a question of them or us.'' The U.S., she said, was free to rework its relations with countries in the South Asian region but certainly not at the expense of Pakistan.

Ms. Lodhi was obviously irked by the red carpet welcome rolled out to the Defence and External Affairs Minister, Mr. Jaswant Singh, here last week.

Mr. Singh, besides having an unscheduled meeting with the President, Mr. George Bush, met all his three foreign policy advisers in a day.

``The need is for Washington to persuade India to accept a democratic solution to the dispute, which lay in the Kashmiris being accorded an opportunity to decide their future themselves,'' she said.

On the nuclear situation in the subcontinent, the Ambassador said Pakistan was not interested in an arms race.

India's nuclear policy was status-driven while Pakistan's policy is security-driven; New Delhi wanted a seat on the big table while Pakistan is content with what it had, she said.

- UNI

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