The Hindu : Searching for peace, Musharraf tells Armitage

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jun 07, 2002

Front Page

Front Page

Searching for peace, Musharraf tells Armitage

The U. S. Deputy Secretary of State, Richard Armitage, with the Pakistan Foreign Minister, Abdul Sattar, in Islamabad on Thursday. — AP

ISLAMABAD JUNE 6. The Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, today assured the United States Deputy Secretary of State, Richard Armitage, that he would not initiate a war with India and was "searching for peace".

``President Musharraf has made it very clear that he is searching for peace and he won't be the one to initiate a war,'' Mr. Armitage told newspersons here after meeting the Pakistani President.

Terming Gen. Musharraf's statement ``a very good basis to proceed with'', Mr. Armitage said, ``I will be hopefully getting the same type of assurances tomorrow in Delhi.''

The two discussed the current situation on the border in the light of the telephonic conversation between the U.S. President, George W. Bush, and Gen. Musharraf yesterday and the latter's statements on cross-border infiltration in India. The U.S. envoy said Gen. Musharraf made it clear to him that nothing was happening across the Line of Control (LoC) from the Pakistani side.

Mr. Armitage said the United States would continue discussions to search for peace and lower the Indo-Pak. tension. He also held separate talks with the Foreign Minister, Abdul Sattar, and the Foreign Secretary, Inam-ul Haq.

To a question on the deployment of United Nations monitors on the LoC, he said, "the Indians have dismissed it. The United States is discussing all sorts of monitoring without any prejudice.''

A report in The Independent today said the United States would propose a joint U.S.-British military monitoring force on the Indo-Pakistan border in an attempt to defuse the threat of war between the neighbours. The U.S. Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, would put forward the proposal for a ``verification force'' when he visits the sub-continent next week, the paper reported.

Mr. Armitage said he was looking forward to his New Delhi visit to continue discussions with the Indian leadership. He will arrive in New Delhi tomorrow and is expected to hold talks with the Home Minister, L.K. Advani, the External Affairs Minister, Jaswant Singh, the Defence Minister, George Fernandes, and the National Security Adviser, Brajesh Mishra. He is also expected to call on the Leader of the Opposition, Sonia Gandhi.

His two-nation visit comes at a time when the international community is making all out efforts to convince India and Pakistan to avoid a war and resolve their differences by peaceful means.

The U.S. President yesterday urged Mr. Vajpayee and Gen. Musharraf to "choose the path of diplomacy and take steps that will ease tensions in the region and reduce the risk of war".

Mr. Bush reiterated to Gen. Musharraf that the U.S. expected Pakistan to live up to the commitment made to end all support for terrorism. — UNI

Sattar wants to quit

The Pakistan Foreign Minister, Abdul Sattar, has requested the President, Pervez Musharraf, to relieve him of his duty citing health problems, media reports here today said.

Mr. Sattar underwent a surgery last month for chronic nasal complications.

The surgery is said to have left him weak due to the three-hour long anaesthesia and the strong medication he is being administered for recovery, the English daily Dawn reported.

— UNI, PTI

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page

Stories in this Section

India rejects foreign participation in LoC patrol

U.S., Russia to work jointly on standoff

Searching for peace, Musharraf tells Armitage

Naidu favours Krishan Kant?

Alexander summons CM, Deputy

LCA test flown successfully

Arafat emerges

Assembly lobby gutted

France held to a draw