Sunday, May 26, 2002
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By Vladimir Radyuhin
The U.S. President, George Bush, talks with the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, as they answer questions from reporters about the standoff between India and Pakistan, as they tour the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg on Saturday. In the background are the two leaders' wives, Laura Bush and Lyudmilla Putin. — AP
``I hope to meet them both early next month to discuss the conflict,'' the Russian leader said on Saturday in St. Petersburg, where he was with the visiting U. S. President, George W. Bush. The Itar-Tass news agency quoted sources in the Russian Foreign Ministry as saying that the meeting could take place during the June 3-5 Conference on Cooperation and Confidence Measures in Asia in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Mr. Putin said he had discussed the Indo-Pak. standoff in his talks with Mr. Bush on Friday. ``We will take joint steps to prevent the conflict from escalating,'' he said.
`We regret the tests'
Mr. Putin voiced concern over Pakistan's missile test on Saturday. ``Conducting tests in conditions of a conflict leads to escalation,'' Mr. Putin said. ``We regret the tests.'' Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Ministry in statement today condemned Pakistan's missile test and urged Islamabad to refrain from taking any steps that might escalate tension in South Asia. ``In the explosive situation that exists today between India and Pakistan, which can any time escalate into a war, such action by the Pakistani administration cannot help aggravating the problem and cannot but be viewed in the context of the current deep crisis in Indo-Pakistani relations.'' Such action contradicted Islamabad's oft-repeated readiness to find a political solution to its conflict with India jointly with the international community. ``Russia calls on the Pakistani leadership to refrain from any action that could lead to an escalation of tension,'' the statement said. ``Islamabad must demonstrate by deeds, not words, its readiness for political settlement of disputes with India.'' This is the second statement on the standoff issued by the Russian Foreign Ministry in the past two days. On Friday, Moscow condemned ``the incessant anti-Indian activity of extremist groups based on Pakistan-controlled territory'' as the main cause of a sharp aggravation of the tension. ``We view as baseless attempts to justify the crimes (committed by the extremists), including the killings of civilians, by invoking the `Kashmir freedom fight,''' the Ministry said. Russia firmly put on Pakistan the onus for the standoff. ``One is to hope that Pakistan appreciates well the gravity of the situation and is in a position to put an end to the activity of the terrorist organisations, which put relations between the two South Asian neighbours on the brink of armed conflict.'' ``We see the possibility of defusing the current dangerous crisis between the two South Asian neighbours in a consistent implementation by the Pakistani military administration of the promises to root out the bases of terrorism and extremism which were made by Pakistan's President, P. Musharraf, in his January 12 speech.''
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