AFP, Pakistan Sept. 11, 2002
India,
Pakistan trade terror barbs in US
WASHINGTON: India and Pakistan accused each other of backing terrorism,
taking their smoldering fuel to US soil on the anniversary of the
September 11 attacks.
Pakistan's
President Pervez Musharraf and Indian Foreign Minister Yashwant
Sinha traded barbs in separate speeches in Chicago and Washington,
reflecting the manner in which both sides have tried to exploit
Washington's anti-terror campaign for their own ends.
Borrowing
the imagery of the last year's strike on the World Trade Center
in New York, Sinha styled India and the United States as the "twin
towers" of democracy.
In
a speech at Washington's Brookings Institution, he argued India
was a victim of sustained terror, obliquely accusing Pakistan of
backing its enemies.
"India
has been a victim of clandestine warfare and state-sponsored, cross-border
terrorism, carried out in the name of liberty," he said.
He
did not mention Pakistan by name at any stage in his appearance,
but his remarks were clearly directed at Pakistan.
"In
the last 20 years, there were 50,000 people in India who have been
victims of terrorists," Sinha said.
"What
the terrorists seek to destroy are the values and principles that
democracies cherish. India and the United States therefore have
a vital stake in defeating the forces of terror."
Not
to be outdone, Musharraf told business leaders at a luncheon of
the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations that Indian security agencies
had allied with fundamentalist groups to plot attacks in Pakistan.
"The
recent terrorist attacks against the diplomatic community and some
Christian organisations is perhaps a sinister combination of these
elements abetted also by an Intelligence Organisation in a neighbouring
country," he said in a veiled reference to India.
Musharraf
did not give specifics but appeared to be referring to a bomb attack
against the US consulate in Karachi in June which killed 12 Pakistanis
and an raid on a church in Islamabad on March 17 in which the wife
and step-daughter of a US diplomat were killed.
Since
the September 11 attacks, Musharraf said he had made a genuine bid
to halt terrorism emanating from Pakistan.
"Pakistan
is against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations."
"I
have taken unprecedented action and wide ranging strategic decisions
to curb terrorism, extremism and religious intolerance in our society."
The
United States has lauded Musharraf's moves to tackle extremist groups
and to secularise Pakistani society after it imposed fierce pressure
on Pakistan to sign up for its anti-terror campaign.
In
response, India has stressed its close philosophical ties with the
United States, as well as the burgeoning cultural and economic links.
Sinha
said democracy in India and the United States was a "bulwark"
against terrorism, implicitly criticising military-ruled Pakistan."
"India
and the United States are allies in the cause of democracy. Together
we create a community of democracies, as the twin towers of democracy
and as nations pulled from many traditions and faiths, we share
the same vision."
Sinha
on Monday held talks here with Secretary of State Colin Powell to
set the agenda for President George W. Bush's meeting with Indian
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on the sidelines of the UN General
Assembly in New York on Thursday. Musharraf is also due to meet
Bush in New York.
