Clinton's trip to Pakistan not an
approval of the military regime
C K Arora in Washington
In an apparent attempt to allay India's apprehensions, the United States has clarified that President
Bill Clinton's decision to include a stop-over in Pakistan during his upcoming South Asia tour does not mean that he intends to play a mediatory role in the 52-year-old Kashmir dispute.
Nor is it meant to mean US approval of the military regime led by General Pervez Musharraf who toppled Pakistan's elected government, putting its prime minister Nawaz Sharif behind the bars.
These explanations were given by two senior US administration officials yesterday soon after the White House had announced President Clinton's decision to stop in Pakistan at the conclusion
of his trip to India and Bangladesh later this month.
Clinton had agreed to go there ''because it is important for the United States and the world that he engage with Pakistan at this time,'' they told newsmen at a special White House briefing.
Earlier, Pakistani ambassador to the US Maleeha Lodhi expressed the hope that Clinton's visit would facilitate ''a just and durable settlement of the Kashmir dispute based on the wishes of the
Kashmiri people.''
''Pakistan remains prepared to support President Clinton's efforts to these goals,'' Lodhi said in a statement.
Several pro-Pakistani Congressmen, including Dan Burton and Tom Campbell (both Republican) and Tim Johnson (Democrat) also talked of US mediation in Kashmir in their statements welcoming Clinton's decision to visit Islamabad.
Lawmakers friendly to India, however, asked the president to take a tough line with General Musharraf on key issues -- democracy, nuclear non-proliferation and terrorism.
''I will also insist that the junta in Islamabad must undertake verifiable steps to stop its proxy war against India, especially in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. This means, in effect, that terrorist organisations such as the Harkat ul-Mujaheedin and Lashkar-e-Toiba must be outlawed by Pakistan. This means that the regime in Islamabad must shut down all the training camps that produce these terror outfits. This means that Pakistan cannot be fully recognised among the world's decent nations until it takes real and serious steps to halt its role in supporting the 'jihad' (holy war) against India over Kashmir,'' Democratic Congressman Gary Ackerman said.
His party colleague Frank Pallone wanted the President to make known to General Musharraf the US concerns over Pakistan's role in fomenting instability in Kashmir and its links with terrorist
organisations.
''I am very dismayed that President Clinton has decided to travel to Pakistan as part of his South Asian tour. Pakistan is ruled by a military government which forcibly seized power from a democratically elected government. I do not believe that it is right to acknowledge such a government with such a high-level visit,'' said Democratic Congressman Jim McDermott.
Another Democratic Congressman Sam Gejdenson said: ''I continue to be troubled by Pakistan's relationship with organisations that have been linked to the hijacking of the Indian Airlines jet in
December last.''
Earlier, the two US officials, justifying Clinton's decision to visit Pakistan, said the important national interests the US had at stake in Pakistan today included ''avoiding the threat of a
conflict in South Asia, promoting the return of democracy to Pakistan, fighting terrorism, preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and creating an environment of regional peace and security.''
Clinton was convinced this was the right decision that best represented the interests of the American people. In addition, not to stop in Pakistan while in the area would be an affront to the
people of Pakistan, the US official said.
''Since no one can predict when the next flare-up between India and Pakistan will occur, the President has a responsibility to the United States and to the world to keep the lines of communication with both countries open,'' the officials said.
They said: ''The president believes it is crucial that he carry a message of restraint and dialogue to both capitals on this trip. He also wants to assure that we have lines of communication that may
be necessary and useful in a crisis.''
The two officials said Clinton would spend several hours in Islamabad at the end of his visit, but did not plan to stay overnight. Details of how that time would be spent were just beginning to be worked on, they said, but would include talks between Clinton and General Musharraf.
They said high on Clinton's agenda for those talks would be the subjects of democracy, terrorism and non-proliferation.
They, however, said the ''primary focus of the trip will be India, where Clinton will visit five cities in five days.''
Before the announcement, Clinton spoke to Prime Minister A B Vajpayee by phone yesterday and the conversation was mostly about the visit to India, one of the officials said.
Vajpayee's reaction to Clinton's stop in pakistan was that he understood this was Clinton's call to make, and he just wanted to focus on being a superlative host for the Indian part of the
trip, the official said.
''I think that the Indian people understand and the Indian government understands that we have vital interests here and that those interests are best kept protected by lines of communication,''
he added.
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