International
Musharraf speech encouraging, says Canadian Minister
By Sridhar Krishnaswami
OTTAWA, JAN. 15. Canada sees the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf's speech last week as ``very encouraging'' and ``courageous''. The Government here is paying serious attention to the implementation of the plan of action.
``I was very encouraged by Gen. Musharraf's speech. He hit the right notes that needed to be hit with respect to the strong position against terrorism, activities against terrorism no matter what cause it was, and the commitments he had made to arrest people, the appropriate ones'', the Foreign Minister, John Manley, said here.
At the same time, Mr. Manley maintained that it was ``quite right'' for the Government of India to say they want to see action. ``Actions speak louder than words, but I felt the words were well chosen,'' he said during the course of a conversation with The Hindu.
Mr. Manley is leaving this week for Pakistan where he will have talks with Gen. Musharraf and members of his Government, including the Foreign Minister, Abdul Sattar. ``I want to review with him (Gen. Musharraf) when I am in Pakistan, the implementation of the commitments, what they intend to do...'', he said.
After two days in Pakistan, he will travel to India on Sunday to begin a week-long visit - a trip that will take him to Amritsar, New Delhi, Agra, Mumbai, Chennai and Goa.
The Minister has other things on his mind as well. For instance, democratisation and the situation on the border with Afghanistan pertaining to humanitarian relief to refugees.
Calling the Indian response to Gen. Musharraf's speech last Saturday as ``cautious but positive'', he said: ``I think they (India) saw a terrible attack on their Parliament and I think they are entirely within their rights to want to be assured that justice will be done and to see it done. Hopefully, the passage of time will see the improvement of relationship as Pakistan fulfills the commitment made in the speech.''
In the context of the recent tensions between India and Pakistan, Mr. Manley said the situation was an ``unnecessary'' addition to an already ``complicated'' agenda for the region. ``Before the attack on the (Indian) Parliament building, we already had enough concern with the instability in the region, particularly creating a new governance for Afghanistan, dealing with a lot of refugees, and concerns about support for terrorism in countries such as Iraq and Iran. So, there was already a complex mix of issues.''
Like in the United States, there is the feeling here that Gen. Musharraf has started cracking down on terror outfits harming India and its interests. And New Delhi, however wary it may be of Islamabad's words, has to reciprocate. There is also the realisation that Gen. Musharraf has indeed quite a task cut out for him. ``Dismantling the terrorist infrastructure is going to be quite challenging'', has been one refrain in some quarters here.
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