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U.S. may ask India to reciprocate Pak. steps
By Sridhar Krishnaswami
WASHINGTON, JAN. 9. Even as the Union Home Minister, L.K. Advani, has arrived here to begin discussions with senior U.S. Administration officials, the U.S. State Department spokesman, Richard Boucher, announced that the Secretary of State, Colin Powell, would leave for South Asia on Tuesday, Jan. 15, planning to visit India, Pakistan and, possibly, other locations, while on a trip to attend an Afghan reconstruction conference in Japan.
``Secretary Powell will meet with leaders of both India and Pakistan to urge a reduction of tensions and to further improve our international cooperation in the fight against terrorism,'' Mr. Boucher told a news briefing.
On Tuesday, Gen. Powell told a meeting of reporters and editors of The Washington Times that there was ``no certainty'' that a war could be avoided between India and Pakistan. ``It is a very tense and dangerous situation. Any situation where you have forces that are mobilised and are in proximity to one another and are something at a war-footing is a dangerous situation''.
Mr. Advani is first meeting the Attorney-General, John Ashcroft. It will be followed by a working lunch after which Mr. Advani will be going to the State Department to meet Gen. Powell.
The substantive meeting with Mr. Ashcroft _ on whose invitation Mr. Advani is here _ will cover a number of topics, many of which are related to the issue of terrorism. These include law enforcement, border management, counter-terrorism, the mutual legal assistance treaty and extradition.
Later and prior to a reception hosted in his honour by the Indian Ambassador, Lalit Mansingh, which is basically a community gathering _ Mr. Advani will be meeting the press to give his assessment of the talks he has had with senior members of the Bush administration.
The impression has been that while Mr.Advani will be making a strong case of where India stands on terrorism, especially as it relates to the subcontinent, the Bush Administration will be using the occasion to impress upon New Delhi the need to take note of what the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, has done in the last two weeks to tackle terrorism.
India will be asked to reciprocate Islamabad's steps, one of which is de-escalation along the border. ``It is appropriate when Musharraf takes positive steps that those be reciprocated in some way. The most effective way is to do things to de-escalate tensions between the two sides,'' an unnamed senior Administration official was quoted in a Reuters report.
The official said the Administration wanted to discuss with Mr. Advani ``the most effective way to achieve our goals which is the elimination of State-sponsored acts of terrorism. The most effective way to do that is not to have a war between India and Pakistan''.
On Thursday, Mr. Advani will go to the White House for a meeting with the National Security Adviser, Condoleezza Rice. The expectation is that Mr. Advani will also meet the President, George W. Bush, and the Vice-President, Dick Cheney.
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