APEC meet: U.S. told to find political settlement

By Amit Baruah

SHANGHAI, OCT. 20. Russia and China have called for a rapid transition from the military phase of the military operation in Afghanistan to a political settlement, the Russian Foreign Minister, Mr. Igor Ivanov, said today.

Mr. Ivanov's statement after a meeting between the Russian President, Mr. Vladimir Putin, and his Chinese counterpart, Mr. Jiang Zemin, is the clearest yet that both Moscow and Beijing are mounting pressure on the United States on dealing with complex questions in Afghanistan. Significantly, a Chinese spokesman said today that the Russian President had told Mr. Jiang that he remained in favour of retaining the Anti- Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty. On the ABM Treaty, Mr. Ivanov said the document was a ``basis for strategic stability''.

Interestingly, the U.S. President, Mr. George Bush, himself played down the possibility of any major breakthrough in his scheduled meeting with Mr. Putin tomorrow night. Media reports have speculated about cuts in the U.S. nuclear arsenal as Mr. Bush announces a pullout from the ABM Treaty. ``You know, somebody said, well, there's great anticipation that there'll be a so-called breakthrough,'' Mr. Bush told reporters today.

``The breakthrough occurred in our first meeting where we made a determined effort to work together to find common ground when it comes to a new strategic arrangement,'' the U.S. President maintained. ``But I wouldn't expect any startling news except for the fact that we're continuing the dialogue,'' Mr. Bush added.

The possibility of co-operating on the anti-terrorist front, it is clear, has not led to any bridging of the gap on crucial issues like the ABM Treaty and national missile defence, whose unilateral abrogation is opposed by both Russia and China.

In its account of the Jiang-Putin meeting today, the official Chinese news agency, Xinhua, said Russia and China had a similar stand on the terrorism issue.

The Chinese President, the report said, told Mr. Putin that a ``unanimous attitude'' and ``sole standard'' should be adopted in fighting terrorism and that all forms of terrorism should be ``opposed and crushed''.

Both Mr. Putin and Mr. Jiang stressed that Chechen separatists and the separatist East Turkestan terrorist forces (operating in the Chinese province of Xinjiang, bordering Afghanistan) should be ``firmly opposed and smashed''.

Mr. Jiang, the news agency reported, said it was ``far- sighted'' of the Presidents of the six-member nations of the Shanghai Co- operation Organisation (which includes Russia) to sign a pact in June to fight against terrorism, separatism and extremism.

``Both Jiang and Putin maintained that more measures should be taken to give play to the role of the (Shanghai Co- operation) Organisation,'' Xinhua added.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : International
Previous : Claymore attacks point to cracks within LTTE
Next     : E.U. backs U.S. plan to overthrow Taliban regime