Front Page

Return to the table, Rocca tells India, Pak.

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

The Pakistani President, Pervez Musharraf, with the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, Christina Rocca, in Islamabad on Wednesday. — AFP

ISLAMABAD MAY 15. At the end of her two-day trip to the subcontinent to find ways of weaning India and Pakistan away from a ``dangerous confrontation,'' the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, Christina B. Rocca, made a forceful appeal to New Delhi and Islamabad to return to the negotiating table to settle their differences.

In contrast to the outright condemnation of Tuesday's terrorist attack on the Army camp near Jammu and outrage at incidents of violence targeting India in New Delhi earlier in the day, Ms. Rocca made no reference to the attack at her press conference after a meeting with the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf.

It was a tightrope walk for Ms. Rocca at the 30-minute press meet. She characterised India and Pakistan as ``friends'' of the U.S. and said her country respected their ``concerns.'' All she said was that the U.S. was in a position to ``assist and find ways to end the dangerous conflict.''

In response to a specific question on whether she raised the issue of ``cross -border terrorism,'' in her discussions with Gen. Musharraf, Ms. Rocca said she would not like to go into the details of her talks with the Pakistan Government. "I would say all issues of confrontation on both sides of the border were discussed.''

Refusing to characterise her visit as a success or failure, she merely said one trip was not enough to realise the objective and Washington would continue to encourage both the sides to sit down and talk. Without dialogue there could be no progress on any front.

Ms. Rocca read out a carefully-worded statement before answering questions. It said "the purpose of my visit to the region is to explore ways in which India and Pakistan can move away from the dangerous confrontation that has characterised (the region) for the last several months.

The U.S. enjoys friendly and cooperative relationship with both the countries. We respect their concerns.

``We are in a position to assist and find ways to end the dangerous confrontation. We have great respect for Gen. Musharraf for his commitment to Operation Enduring Freedom and the international fight against terrorism... incidents like the Karachi suicide bombing, attack on World Trade Center and Parliament attack in New Delhi. We have to demonstrate that we are all together in this fight. Together we will triumph.''

Earlier she called on the Pakistan Foreign Minister, Abdul Sattar.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• We must counter terror attacks, says Vajpayee
• Bush to PM: an outrageous act
• Return to the table, Rocca tells India, Pak.
• An act of frustration: Fernandes
• SP MLAs disrupt Governor's address
• Sinha denial
• Delhi boy is topper
• U.N. approval
• Ketan Parekh held
• Train blown off tracks, two killed

Copyright © 2002, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu