Front Page

Zardari calls J&K militants terrorists

New York: Declaring that India is not a “threat” to his country, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has described the militants operating in Jammu and Kashmir as “terrorists,” the first such admission by any top Pakistani leader.

“India has never been a threat to Pakistan. I, for one, and our democratic government is not scared of Indian influence abroad,” Mr. Zardari told Wall Street Journal in an interview.

He spoke of the militant groups operating in Kashmir as “terrorists,” the paper said, noting that former President Pervez Musharraf would more likely have called them “freedom fighters.”

Indicating a major shift in Pakistan’s well-known position, Mr. Zardari had, as chief of the Pakistan People’s Party, said in March that the ties between the two countries should not be held “hostage” to the Kashmir issue, which should be left for future generations to decide, raising hackles at home.

The latest positive signals from Mr. Zardari come days after his maiden meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting.

Replying to a question, Mr. Zardari said he had no objection to the India-U.S. nuclear deal so long as Pakistan was treated “at par.”

“Why would we grudge the largest democracy in the world getting friendly with one of the oldest democracies?” he said.

While seeking better ties with New Delhi, he noted that “there is no other economic survival for nations like us. We have to trade with our neighbours first.” — PTI

© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu