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MOSCOW, June 5: Russia said on Wednesday it would continue to push for dialogue between Pakistan and India, despite being apparently rebuffed in an effort to bring their leaders together for talks to avert war on the Sub-continent.
President Vladimir Putin, acting with the backing of Europe and the United States, held separate talks with President Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on the sidelines of an Asian security summit in Kazakhstan this week.
But the two leaders did not meet each other in Almaty, and Vajpayee apparently rebuffed a Russian plan for a summit later in Moscow.
“Now the main thing is to create dialogue between the conflicting countries... The task for third countries, and the goal
of our diplomats, is to create these conditions,” Russian foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko told a briefing.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, visiting Moscow, said Musharraf and Vajpayee had missed an opportunity to make peace.
“I appreciate very much your involvement in conflict resolution... and I want to thank you for the efforts you made in Almaty,” he told Putin at a Kremlin meeting.
“I was amused to hear them say President Putin failed to make peace in Almaty, when the actual situation was that the two leaders failed to seize the opportunity offered by the conference.”
NO KAZAKH MEETING PLANNED: Putin said it had not been his plan to arrange a face-to-face meeting in Almaty between the Indian and Pakistani leaders. He said his separate meetings with the two men had yielded “positive signs” from both sides.
“We never set a goal to bring them together,” he told Annan.
“Many of our partners said, maybe today it would be premature, that the domestic political situation in both countries is such that a meeting could upset a delicate balance. Some of my Western partners recommended I not do this.
“But they came to Almaty and sat down at the same table. The most important thing was that they agreed to the principle of resolving the conflict without using force, and during the bilateral meetings they gave what we could interpret as positive signs giving us hope.”
Russian officials would not directly comment on whether Vajpayee had turned down an offer to come to Moscow along with President Musharraf.
Foreign ministry spokesman Yakovenko offered no comment, but said Russia still considered it a priority to arrange direct dialogue between India and Pakistan.
“As you know, the president has invited the president of Pakistan, and discussion of these issues will continue. We will also use all of our great many contacts with the Indian side to tackle this problem and discuss this question,” he said.
President Musharraf emerged from his meeting on Tuesday with Putin saying he had accepted an invitation to Moscow and expected Vajpayee would be invited as well.
But neither Russia nor India mentioned an invitation for Vajpayee and the Indian leader left saying he would meet Musharraf only if Pakistan did more to crack down on the guerillas Delhi blames for attacks in held Kashmir.—Reuters
