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Shut down infiltration forever, Pak. told

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

Washington June 19. The Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, will have not only to put the terrorists out of business but keep them out of business as well for ``it's the right thing for India and the right thing for Pakistan,'' says the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Joseph Biden.

Speaking at the Indo-U.S. Parliamentary Forum meeting organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Mr. Biden said that Gen. Musharraf had to keep his promise. ``He's got to shut down infiltration, not for a few weeks, not for a few months, but forever,'' the Democrat from Delaware remarked.

In the long term, Mr. Biden argued, Pakistan had to become ``more realistic'' about the future of Kashmir. ``If India is willing to make substantive changes in its policy towards Kashmir, Pakistan must be willing to accept the Line of Control as a border and end its support for insurgency.''

Even while praising India for its restraint across the Line of Control, Mr. Biden was sharply critical of what Gen. Musharraf had done by way of cracking down on terrorists and extremists. ``He promised he'd break the back of the violent extremist groups undermining the stability of Pakistan. He immediately arrested 2000 members of the worst groups. But what happened then?... After briefly detaining hundreds of the worst sort of thugs, he let them go,'' Mr. Biden said. On a different note but relevant to Indo-U.S. relations, Mr. Biden — seen as one of the Democratic hopefuls for the Presidential Election of 2004 — voiced a strong note of ``friendly caution'' over the goings-on in Gujarat.

``I cannot look at what has happened in Gujarat over the past few months and remain silent. About two thousand people have been slaughtered in mob violence there often with the collusion of local officials,'' he said. ``No matter what the provocation, nothing justifies the slaughter of innocent women and children.''

The luncheon meeting followed by a panel discussion saw the participation of a number of leading personalities from the administration, Congress and Indian business leaders. Apart from Mr. Biden, the participants included the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Richard Myers, the Republican Senator, Sam Brownback, the Ambassador of India to the United States, Lalit Mansingh, the Director of Policy Planning at the State Department, Richard Haass, the Co-Chair of the Indo-U.S. Parliamentary Forum, Kapil Sibal, Congress MP, and A.C. Muthiah, industrialist.

The U.S., Mr. Haass said, would continue to keep pressure on Pakistan to stop cross-border infiltration and on the imperative to shut down the terrorist camps. However, he said, Gen. Musharraf was indeed moving in the right direction and justified the Bush administration's association with Pakistan in the fight against terrorism.

``I understand there is a difference between words and actions. Many of those have not yet been translated or not been fully translated into action. But it was still a major step in the right direction and we are seeing significant progress,'' Mr. Haass said of Gen. Musharraf's January 12 speech.

Mr. Haass called on India to develop bilateral relations with Pakistan saying that it was ``simply unnatural'' for India and Pakistan not to have more of a relationship. It was not only unnatural but unhealthy as well. Apart from calling on India to improve the situation on the ground, especially in Kashmir, Mr. Haass called on both South Asian nations for dialogue to deal with the problem. It was not in the interests of India, Pakistan or the U.S. to allow the problem in Kashmir to fester for another 50 years, Mr. Haass said.

The founder of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans, Frank Pallone, spoke of at least five areas where there could be further improvement in Indo-U.S. relations — economics, Kashmir, defence, humanitarian assistance and the environment.

In a statement on the floor of the House of Representatives, Mr. Pallone asked the Republican administration to cut off economic assistance to Pakistan if the latter's promise of ending cross-border terrorism is not kept. ``I do not think it is appropriate for the U.S. to provide any further aid to Pakistan if this promise (of ending cross-border terrorism) is not kept,'' Mr. Pallone said.

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