The Hindu : Serious and positive signals from Musharraf: Putin

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jun 05, 2002

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Serious and positive signals from Musharraf: Putin

The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, welcomes the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, prior to their meeting in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on Tuesday. — AP

ALMATY JUNE 4. The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, today told the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, that the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, had given ``serious and positive signals'' to end the current military standoff with India.

``President Musharraf gave what I think is a serious and positive signal to end the mounting tension with India,'' Mr. Putin told Mr. Vajpayee when the two leaders met on the sidelines of the 16-nation Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia here.

Welcoming Mr. Vajpayee at the Almaty guest-house for bilateral talks, Mr. Putin said Russia was ready to contribute to the settlement of the Indo-Pakistani conflict. ``If Russia could help in any way, it was ready to make a contribution to the settlement of the problem.''

At the same time, both New Delhi and Islamabad must do all they can to resolve the conflict, he added.

Russia was perfectly aware of the roots of the conflict, and understood the problems related to terrorism. The relations between Russia and India in economic and political coordination, and cooperation in international organisations were developing ``in a very positive way,'' he said, pointing to the growing joint activity of the two Parliaments. ``It is very gratifying to note that our dialogue at all levels of State interaction is going on uninterrupted... We can always exchange views in writing or by telephone and often do so,'' Mr. Putin told Mr. Vajpayee.

Thanking the Russian President for his position on the fight against terrorism, Mr. Vajpayee said India was eagerly looking forward to his visit in December.

Mr. Putin, who earlier met Gen. Musharraf, candidly told the Pakistani ruler that he had the authority of his Western colleagues to convey their concerns over the prevailing situation in the Indian subcontinent.

``We have had many meetings, particularly Russia-EU and Russia-NATO summits... concern was expressed at the situation. The colleagues had requested me to convey this concern to you,'' Mr. Putin told a tense-looking Gen. Musharraf at the opening of their meeting televised by the Russian State TV, RTR.

``It is imperative to analyse what can be done, so that this conflict is not just defused, but the two sides move away from future confrontation,'' the Interfax news agency quoted Mr. Putin as saying. — PTI, UNI

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