The Hindu : U.K. dismisses Musharraf plea

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jun 21, 2003

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International - India & World

U.K. dismisses Musharraf plea

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON JUNE 20. The British Foreign Office today dismissed the plea of the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, for an arms embargo on India saying that arms exports to both countries were governed by the same criteria, and that Pakistan had not been discriminated against in any way.

Asked to comment on Gen. Musharraf's comment in a newspaper interview that restrictions on arms sales to Pakistan had created an "imbalance'' vis-à-vis India, a spokesman told The Hindu that there was no arms embargo either against India or Pakistan. Arms sales to both countries were governed by a consolidated EU criteria, and each export was judged on its own merit. He said there had been no discrimination against Pakistan.

The spokesman also said that Gen. Musharraf had a "very successful'' meeting with the British Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, but it was not known if the issue of arms sales was raised. In an interview to The Times on Thursday, Gen. Musharraf had called for a western arms embargo on India arguing that its growing defence capability would force Pakistan to rely on its nuclear arsenal as the only real deterrent. British officials indicated that they were not impressed by his plea.

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