WASHINGTON, April 5: The Bush administration said on Friday that India must not use the United States-led pre-emptive war against Iraq as a pretext for an attack on Pakistan.

“Any attempts to draw parallels between the Iraq and Kashmir situations are wrong and are overwhelmed by the differences between them,” said State Department spokeswoman Joanne Prokopowicz.

She was responding to a comment on Thursday by Indian Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha that India would be justified in taking pre-emptive action across the Pakistan border.—APP

Our correspondent in Delhi adds: The United States has poured cold water on Indian claims that New Delhi had a better justification to launch pre-emptive strikes to defend itself against alleged cross-border terrorism than Washington vis-a-vis Iraq, The Hindu reported on Saturday.

“Indian officials have recently speculated that US pre-emptive action in Iraq could be seen as a justification of similar action by India against Pakistan over Kashmir. Any attempts to draw parallels between the Iraq and the Kashmir situations are wrong and overwhelmed by the differences between them,” a State Department official told the newspaper.

The newspaper said that even while recognizing the “very serious nature” of the situation in Kashmir, the Bush administration sees attempts to draw parallels between Iraq and Kashmir as wrong and that the circumstances that made the coalition military action necessary in Iraq do not apply to the sub-continent.

“Iraq invaded, occupied and brutalized Kuwait in 1990. The international community came together to drive Iraq out of Kuwait in 1991.

“A decade earlier, Iraq attacked another neighbour Iran and used chemical weapons in that war. The Iraqi government had used chemical weapons to kill thousands of its own people,” the official told the newspaper in Washington.

“The US and its coalition allies have taken action against Iraq only after 12 years of UN Security Council resolutions, including UNSC 1441 which was passed 15 to 0, failed to achieve Iraq’s disarmament.

“The circumstances that made coalition military action necessary in Iraq do not apply in the subcontinent and should not be considered a precedent,” the official said.

“The US recognizes the very serious nature of the situation in Kashmir. Our joint statement last week with the United Kingdom made clear our repugnance at the killing of innocents that have been taking place in Kashmir with alarming frequency,” the State Department official said.

According to APP, the joint statement said the differences between Pakistan and India “can only be resolved through peaceful means and engagement”.