The Hindu : India, Pak. need to talk: Rumsfeld

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jun 14, 2002

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India, Pak. need to talk: Rumsfeld

The Pakistan Foreign Minister, Abdul Sattar (left), with the U.S. Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, at a joint press conference in Islamabad on Thursday. — AFP

Islamabad June 13. Ignoring Pakistani protests, the U.S. Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, today said that America had a ``good deal of scraps'' of intelligence about the presence of Al-Qaeda terrorists in Kashmir, emphasising that he expected Islamabad to crack down on their network if there was any ``actionable intelligence''.

Winding up his visit to India and Pakistan with talks with the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, here, Mr. Rumsfeld brushed aside Islamabad's suggestion that Washington should do more to help lower the Indo-Pakistan tension and emphasised that the two countries need to resume their dialogue.

Addressing a joint press conference with the Pakistan Foreign Minister, Abdul Sattar, the Defence Secretary said that the current military standoff was ``very stressful for forces to be maintained for long periods on high alert''.

Mr. Rumsfeld's remarks on Wednesday in New Delhi that there were indications of the Al-Qaeda operating in areas near the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir dominated the press conference as Pakistan denied his claim, terming it as ``absolutely incorrect'' with no substance.

Asked about the basis of his statement in New Delhi, Mr. Rumsfeld said ``I think what I said in U.S. and on this trip in earlier stops is what I know of the facts. The facts are that I do not have the evidence and the U.S. does not have evidence of Al-Qaeda in Kashmir. We do have a good deal of scraps of intelligence that come in. People saying that they believe Al-Qaeda are in Kashmir or in various locations. It tends to be speculative, it is not actionable, it is not verifiable... So far as I know that is the situation.''

Commending Pakistan's cooperation in the fight against the Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, Mr. Rumsfeld said he had no doubt in his mind that Pakistan would act if there was any actionable evidence against Al-Qaeda activities in Kashmir.

Dismissing as ``absolutely incorrect'' Mr. Rumsfeld's remarks on Al-Qaeda, Pakistan's Defence spokesman, Maj. Gen. Rashid Qureshi, earlier said it appeared that the U.S. official had been carried away by Indian propaganda.

Mr. Rumsfeld appeared blunt in refusing to draw any distinction between terrorists and freedom fighters as Pakistan would term the militants in Kashmir. "Anyone targeting innocent civilians are terrorists, regardless of what they and their backers describe them," he said without mincing words, when asked whether he could make a distinction between a freedom fighter and terrorist.

Brushing aside Mr. Sattar's request for more U.S. help in removing the threat of war, Mr. Rumsfeld said ``there is no magic wand in this world... In the last analysis people and countries sort out their own problems. They can do it with some help... but problems get sorted out on the ground''.

On military de-escalation, Mr. Rumsfeld said ``we expect force reduction" but let India and Pakistan take a decision in this regard as they were "sovereign'' countries.

PTI

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