December 5, 2002	Thursday	Ramazan 29,1423

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ISLAMABAD, Dec 4: Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali on Wednesday brushed off the Russian president’s call for Islamabad to crackdown on Kashmiri guerillas fighting Indian rule in the disputed Kashmir region.

Speaking in New Delhi, Russian President Vladimir Putin also urged Islamabad to stop militants crossing into Kashmir, a region that has twice taken nuclear-armed India and Pakistan to war and remains at the centre of crossborder tensions.

But Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali dismissed Putin’s appeal as well as his concerns about Pakistan’s nuclear weapons.

“Pakistan does not believe in terrorism. We know what is best for us,” Jamali told Reuters.

“We have always refuted it. We never believe in it. I don’t want to blame Mr Putin for making such statements while sitting in India,” said Jamali, who was sworn in last month.

Winding up a summit with Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Putin said on Wednesday that Islamabad should tear up the militants’ infrastructure.

“Pakistan’s nuclear assets are in safe hands. Pakistan is a positive thinking country and there is no need for worry about the country’s nuclear programme,” he said.

Russia has praised Pakistan’s contribution to the US-led “war on terrorism” but officials in Moscow have suggested that the al Qaeda network has support in certain Pakistani circles.