11 January 2002

U.S. Urges India, Pakistan to Resolve Differences

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said on January 11 that the situation in South Asia is still very dangerous, and that India and Pakistan must resolve their differences through political and diplomatic means.

Boucher said Pakistani President Musharraf has taken significant steps against terrorists by making arrests, closing offices and freezing assets of terrorist groups, and the United States looks forward to more actions against terrorists from Musharraf.

"We're looking forward to the speech that he'll be giving soon on how he intends to deal with this issue, and to the additional actions against terrorism that his government will be taking," Boucher added at his regular media briefing in Washington.

Noting the serious nature of the terrorist attack on India, Boucher said, "We've made clear all along we do think the Indian government needs to be able to take steps against terrorism. We want to keep the focus on terrorism for both of them. And as I've said, we've seen consistent statements in public as well as in our discussions, from the Indian government that they would like to see a political and diplomatic solution, and we think that is the only way to really get a solution to these problems."

Following is an excerpt from the January 11 State Department briefing.

Question: India-Pakistan. Do you have any latest comment on the Indian general's claim that they're ready for war? And is the Secretary worried about his trip?

Mr. Boucher: Let me try to talk a little bit about the general situation that's there. We stay in regular contact with Indian and Pakistani leaders through our ambassadors in Islamabad and New Delhi, or our embassies, since Ambassador Blackwell has been back here temporarily. He is on his way back to Delhi now.

The Secretary has also remained in touch with leaders of India and Pakistan. He spoke again this morning to President Musharraf and will continue to work to help defuse the tensions and resolve the crisis.

We believe that India and Pakistan must resolve their differences through political and diplomatic means. War or military action is not the way to resolve this crisis. Both sides have said that they are willing to pursue political and diplomatic solutions, and so we will continue to work with them in that regard.

Once again, I would say President Musharraf has taken significant steps against terrorists. We have noted the arrests, we have noted the closing of offices and the freezing of assets. He has spoken out against terrorism and arrested other individuals as well.

We are looking forward to the speech that he will be giving soon on how he intends to deal with this issue and to the additional actions against terrorism that his government will be taking.

Question: Can the United States play a major role in this mediation without having a position on the major issue in dispute? Is it enough to be a super -- I mean, the United States and to say, you know, please come to some agreement, do it through dialogue, not through fighting, and you offer no opinions about the future of Kashmir? Is that it?

Mr. Boucher: Yes.

Question: An article in a major paper today says the Administration is more worried now, today, about this dispute than a few days ago. Would you agree with that?

Mr. Boucher: I don't think we have tried to give you a barometer or a thermometer of tension every day. We have made clear all along that it is a very dangerous situation. The Secretary has said that repeatedly, I think almost every day, every time he was asked by the media. So I don't believe there has been any change in our view that the situation is dangerous, that we have military forces in close proximity and potential confrontation, and stressed again and again the importance of political and diplomatic solutions.

Question: Would you at least acknowledge that it hasn't gotten any better, then, over the past few days?

Mr. Boucher: People have asked us, "Has it eased off? Has the crisis broken?" and things like that, and we have never been wiling to use those kinds of terms, because it is a dangerous situation and, as you know, we have been engaged in very intense activity about it.

Question: Did Secretary Powell, in his conversation with General Musharraf, enumerate specific agenda items he would look forward to seeing in the speech?

Mr. Boucher: I'm not in a position to go through specifics of things. He has been hearing from President Musharraf about the kinds of steps he was looking to take, the kinds of actions he was looking to announce, so we will have to see what he says. But we have been working with the parties all along, talking to each of them about the overall situation, about the need for a political and diplomatic solution, about the futility of conflict in this matter, and about the kinds of steps that they could be taking to stop the buildup, reduce the tensions, and find the political and diplomatic solution that we all say we want.

Question: Yesterday the Indians announced that they were going to start conducting military exercises along some of the borders. Do you have a position on whether this would be a provocative act or not?

Mr. Boucher: I hadn't seen that specifically, so I don't have a specific reaction to that. But as we have always said, we are looking for both sides to ease the tensions, to take steps to deescalate.

Question: When was the phone call?

Mr. Boucher: It was at about 11:43 this morning.

(Laughter.)

Question: Before the Secretary committed himself to visit the region, did he have a pretty good idea of what President Musharraf is going to say in his speech?

Mr. Boucher: Again, we look forward to hearing what President Musharraf has to say. The Secretary has been talking to him about the kinds of steps that he has been taking against extremism and terrorism, the kinds of steps he intends to continue to take, the direction he intends to go. That has been, in a more general sense, part of our discussions with Pakistan for some time, including the Secretary's discussions last time.

So, yes, we have some idea about what he intends to do and what he intends to say. But in the end, it is for him to say and for him to announce, for him to do what he decides. We will see what he says when he says it.

Question: Richard, what did Ambassador Blackwell do here that he couldn't do by phone or by e-mail or by --

Mr. Boucher: He was here for the visit of the Indian Home Minister. So he just came back and they just -- as you know, he has been here for a couple days participating in those meetings. Now he has headed back.

Question: Did Secretary Powell speak to anyone from the Indian Foreign Ministry, Foreign Minister Singh or --

Mr. Boucher: Not yet.

Question: Is he going to later today?

Mr. Boucher: Maybe.

Question: Will you let us know?

Mr. Boucher: Always do.

Question: If you can? Before the close of business?

Mr. Boucher: If he talks to somebody from the Indian side, we will try to tell you.

Question: Did the Indian minister or the government give a deadline that how long they are willing to wait, maybe until after the visit or something?

Mr. Boucher: I haven't seen anything like that. What I have seen from the Indian side, of course, is continued discussion of the tensions, continued discussion of the attack. And we all recognize the very, very serious nature of this attack. It was an attack on India and on democracy, on the Indian leadership and government. We have made clear all along we do think the Indian Government needs to be able to take steps against terrorism. We want to keep the focus on terrorism for both of them. As I've said, we have seen consistent statements in public, and as well as in our discussions, from the Indian Government that they would like to see a political and diplomatic solution, and we think that is the only way to really get a solution to these problems. So that is what we're working with them on.