WASHINGTON, Jan 26: The prospect of China playing a role in improving relations between Pakistan and India was raised on Friday by a former senior official in the Clinton administration.

Mr Karl Inderfurth, who was assistant secretary of state for South Asia during the concluding years of the government headed by president Bill Clinton, told a seminar arranged by the Pakistan American Congress that China could play an important role in helping to solve disputes between India and Pakistan, and in this connection referred to the recent visit to India of the Chinese prime minister. It was “good to see” China and India rebuilding their relationship.

Mr Inderfurth said the United State could also help the two countries, but they had to address issues directly between themselves. Never before did the two countries have two leaders who had an opportunity to take bold decisions, and an opportunity to do so had been provided by the turn of events since Sept 11.

The US, Mr Inderfurth stressed, also had a chance to build strong relations with both India and Pakistan. No one could have imagined that US-Pakistan relations could change so dramatically in such a comparatively short period of time.

He said America did not go into Afghanistan to lift rule by an oppressive regime or to rescue people suffering from widespread famine, but US intervention was having this effect and it had become possible to address some of the basic problems.

The seminar was also addressed by Pakistan ambassador Maleeha Lodhi, who said a transformation in US-Pakistan ties had actually begun before Sept 11, right after the installation of the Bush administration and the opening this created for the lifting of sanctions. President Pervez Musharraf’s visit to Washington, the ambassador said, would help to revitalize an old relationship and chart out a course for the future.

In an oblique reference to the lack of activism on the part of organizations of Pakistani-Americans to take greater interest in the question of Pakistanis detained since the Sept 11 events, Dr Maleeha Lodhi said the Pakistan American Congress and other community associations should be more engaged with the problem

She said according to US government agencies, the maximum number of Pakistanis in custody in the early weeks after Sept 11 was 250. This had come down to 150, and no new arrests had been made in any significant numbers. Regular consular visits had been undertaken, and the Pakistan embassy was helping in expediting the return of those citizens who had opted for repatriation.

Twenty-five Pakistanis had gone back under this process, and another 30 would be leaving soon.

The seminar, which was conducted by Pakistan American Congress president Dr Nisar Chaudhri, was attended by members of the association, representatives of some think tanks and journalists.