ISLAMABAD, April 16: US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca will both be coming to Pakistan next month for consultations with the government, foreign office sources told Dawn on Wednesday.
The two officials will also be visiting India in what is seen as a “peace mission” to the region.
“Whenever Pakistan and India tension level rises, Mr Armitage gets deeply involved,” remarked one Pakistani official, pointing out that the deputy secretary of state had visited the two South Asian capitals twice last year, once when (June) Pakistan and India were on the brink of a nuclear war.
Government and diplomatic sources believe that the forthcoming visit of the US officials has been prompted by Indian Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha’s belligerent statements regarding pre- emptive strikes by India against Pakistan and an upswing of firing in occupied Kashmir.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell recently pledged to re-engage in the region to defuse Indo-Pakistan tensions.
During the US officials’ visit, the two sides will discuss “bilateral and regional issues with particular focus on the Pakistan-India stand-off, Iraq and Afghanistan,” a senior government official told Dawn on Wednesday. The bilateral agenda would be the central aspect of the talks, the official said.
A US embassy spokesman in Islamabad non-committal about the likely dates of the visit and whether any other official would accompany Mr Armitage. “Somewhere down the road somebody might be coming,” was all he said. Ms Rocca was here in February to solicit Pakistan’s support for a second US resolution authorizing a military attack on Iraq. Mr Armitage’s last visit to Pakistan was in August 2002.
Our Correspondent in Washington adds:Sources said that Mr Armitage was scheduled to leave for the subcontinent next week but had to delay the visit because of the Bush administration’s preoccupation with the Middle East.
Mr Armitage is regarded as Washington’s main troubleshooter and a tough negotiator. The decision to send him shows renewed US interest in another global flashpoint. American policy-makers have long felt that if not defused, the Kashmir dispute could lead to a nuclear conflict in South Asia.
Talking to reporters in Washington on Tuesday, Secretary Powell said the United States did not think India could resolve the Kashmir dispute by resorting to force.
