Pakistan not to be tagged terrorist:US
State Dept says Islamabad a firm ally in anti-terror war
WASHINGTON: The United States on Wednesday sidestepped India's call for Pakistan to be declared a terrorist state, instead praising President Pervez Musharraf as a firm ally in the US anti-terror campaign. With tensions again simmering in South Asia following the massacre of 28 Hindus in Indian Kashmir at the weekend, top Indian politicians have turned up the rhetorical heat on arch enemy Pakistan. Powerful Indian Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani argued in parliament that the international community must declare Pakistan a terrorist state if it fails to close training camps for Islamic militants in the part of Kashmir it controls.
Despite promptings by reporters, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher declined to directly address the demand, but dished out another dose of praise for Pakistan's role since the September 11 attacks. "As far as putting Pakistan on the terrorism list, just to point out again Pakistan has been a very stalwart ally in the fight against terrorism," he said.
"President Musharraf has announced some fairly bold measures within his own society to try to move Pakistan on a more moderate course, and our interest is in helping Pakistan move in that direction." Pakistan's intelligence services and radical Islamic elements within its society have been accused of fomenting an uprising in Indian Kashmir, and of backing the former Taliban rulers of Afghanistan, who harbored the al-Qaeda network of Osama bin Laden. Secretary of State Colin Powell is to travel to India and Pakistan before the end of this month, as part of a new wave of international diplomatic shuttles aimed at easing tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbors.
But Advani's words signalled that India is not yet satisfied with Pakistan's pledge to crack down on infiltration across the Line of Control dividing Indian and Pakistani Kashmir. "This is not just an issue of infiltration, this is an issue of the infrastructure of cross-border terrorism; and unless that infrastructure is wound up, (the international community must say) 'we will declare you a terrorist state,'"Advani told parliament. Boucher said US officials had determined that cross-border incursions had decreased since Musharraf pledged to halt them. But US officials say they are not in a position to say such infiltrations have stopped completely. |
