ASIA SECURITY CONFERENCE
No threat of war for now: Indian minister
Despite worldwide fears of a war between India and Pakistan, he described the situation as stable
INDIAN Defence Minister George Fernandes yesterday dismissed the immediate threat of war with Pakistan, describing the situation along their tense border as stable.
straitstimes.asia1.com.sg
'The troops have been on both sides in an eyeball-to-eyeball situation for the last six months, so I don't think one needs worry just now as to what is likely to happen,' he told reporters in Singapore.
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'I think it is stable.'
He was speaking after private talks with United States Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz here ahead of a regional conference on terrorism and security.
Mr Wolfowitz earlier said that a war on the subcontinent 'has the potential for catastrophic consequences that would do untold damage to India, to Pakistan, to the whole world'.
India and Pakistan have had nearly one million troops on a war footing along their common border since late last year.
India accuses Pakistan of supporting Islamic militant groups waging an insurgency in Indian-ruled Kashmir, the flash point in the wars they fought in 1948 and 1965.
Pakistan says it gives the militants only moral support.
Mr Wolfowitz, who is with a delegation of US Congressmen attending the conference, pleaded with Mr Fernandes for restraint, but otherwise gave few details of their meeting.
But he said that Washington does not want to see its recently-improved relations with both India and Pakistan wrecked by war.
Mr Fernandes played down the concerns.
'There isn't any change on the ground,' he said.
'The situation is stable.'
He also met six members of the US Congress, who disclosed that he expressed strong emotions about the conflict.
Mr Fernandes had told the law-makers that Indian officials had a 'deep distrust' of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on a personal level, said Senator Jack Reed.
Mr Reed said he and his colleagues 'recognised the extreme provocation India faced' from attacks by militants, but 'we all made a plea for restraint'.
Western diplomats in New Delhi believe the US and its allies have about a week to 10 days to persuade the two sides to back off from a fight.
But they warned that any provocative action - such as another major attack by Islamic militants on India - could ignite tensions which are already dangerously close to flash point.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov said in Moscow that his country still hoped Gen Musharraf would hold face-to-face talks with Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee during a regional security meeting next week in former Soviet Kazakhstan.
He was quoted by Russian news agencies on Thursday as saying that President Vladimir Putin would have separate meetings with the two leaders to persuade them to 'put confrontation in the past'.
--AFP, AP |
