Bush Bluntly Tells
Musharraf to Stop Terrorism in Kashmir
By
Chidanand Rajghatta
NEW YORK: Notwithstanding its self-professed role as a
frontline state in the war on terrorism, Pakistan finds itself
cornered on the issue. The US, India and Afghanistan have come
together to warn Pakistan's military government not to mess around
in its neighborhood.
US
President George Bush bluntly told Pakistan's military ruler Pervez
Musharraf on Wednesday to "stop cross-border terrorism in
Kashmir" and "infiltration" into Afghanistan.
Despite
effusive public praise for Pakistan for its role in the war on
terrorism, Bush appears to have got tough with Musharraf during
their meeting on the sidelines of the UN session in the face of
complaints from both Prime Minister Vajpayee and Afghan President
Hamid Karzai about Pakistan's hostile activities.
"President
Bush and President Musharraf had an 'excellent meeting' in which
they talked about the challenges in the war on terrorism, talked
about the need to stop cross-border terrorism in Kashmir,"
a senior US administration official told reporters in a background
briefing about Bush's engagements for the day.
It
was the first time a high-level US official has attributed such
a blunt and direct expression as "cross-border terrorism
in Kashmir" to Bush. The formulation is of Indian origin
and US diplomacy and language in this matter has been a little
subtler in the past.
The
tougher language was also evident in the context of the Pakistan-Afghanistan
problem. The official also said Bush had asked Musharraf "to
go back and redouble his efforts" to deal with infiltration
into Afghanistan, although she softened the message by elaborating
on the difficult terrain in the region and Pakistan's change of
heart while insisting there was more to do.
"If
you look at where Pakistan was prior to 9/11 and where Pakistan
is now, you've had a complete shift in the orientation of Pakistan's
foreign policy, of Pakistan's policy towards Afghanistan and the
Taliban, and Pakistan's policy towards terrorism," the official
said. "It doesn't mean that there isn't more to do, but that
has to be acknowledged."
In
a separate briefing, External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha
told reporters that Prime Minister Vajpayee informed the US President
that India had not seen any decline in cross-border terrorism
or infiltration or in the matter of dismantling the infrastructure
of terrorism in Pakistan. As a result, no sustained dialogue was
possible because there was no change in the mind set of the rulers
of Pakistan.
Pakistan's
low-intensity hostility is also being blamed indirectly for India's
rejection of troops to Iraq. Vajpayee told Bush that as far as
the commitment of Indian troops to Iraq was concerned, New Delhi
had to first consider its own increased security demand over the
past few weeks.
Washington's
hardening sentiment and language against Pakistan follows reports
about the country's continuing subversive activities in both India
and Afghanistan. Senior US officials in recent weeks have publicly
spoken about it.
State
Department's Christina Rocca recently stressed the need to contain
terrorism emanating from Pakistan, while even the US envoy to
Pakistan, Nancy Powell, wondered how Pakistan could not find Taliban
activists when reporters from US media were interviewing them
all the time.
The
open indictment of Pakistan's role in fomenting violence in the
region came even as Musharraf was sending mixed signals and tying
himself in knots at his various engagements in New York. Sometimes
he protested that Pakistan was not involved in terrorism and was
not encouraging infiltration; at other times, he suggested terrorism
could be contained by talks.
In
his speech before the UN, Musharraf initially described the movement
in Kashmir as indigenous. Two paragraphs later he admitted Pakistan
had the leverage to stop the violence in Kashmir by the renegades
he describes as freedom fighters and the rest of the world calls
terrorists.
Various
statements and developments during this week in New York have
virtually nailed Pakistan on charges of terrorism. The Bush's
administration outing its ally publicly on Wednesday comes after
the US media reported continuing Pakistani complicity or inaction
on terrorism.
In
its latest issue, Time magazine reports on how serving Pakistani
military officials were caught operating with the Taliban. The
magazine also reports on how Pakistan has reneged on its promise
to close down terrorist camps operating against India while denying
their existence, forcing US Deputy Secretary Richard Armitage
to produce a dossier of satellite photographs showing the camps
last June.
"Musharraf
acted outraged and upset," Time quotes a State Department
official as saying, but it wasn't clear to the Americans whether
he was angry that the camps were functioning or that the US had
uncovered them.
Musharraf
has similarly protested Pakistan's innocence during his New York
engagements, arguing that the border with India cannot be fool
proofed and the terrain on the border with Afghanistan is too
hostile to completely root out the Taliban and al-Qaeda.
But
there are now doubts in the US establishment, endorsed by New
Delhi and Kabul, whether Pakistan's change of heart is real or
tactical. - Courtesy Times of India
