WASHINGTON, Dec 19: In a clear reference to militant organizations that have links to the Kashmir movement, the United States has asked Islamabad to take action against “terrorist groups that operate out of Pakistan”, and said it did not want to see Pakistan and India fighting over Kashmir.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher, replying to a question on America’s diplomatic efforts to cool down Indo-Pakistan tensions following the attack on the Indian parliament building, said on Tuesday: “The Indians need to conduct their investigation (in the parliament incident), need to consider what the appropriate action might be to help protect their people against terrorism, to help protect their democracy against terrorism.
But we think it is incumbent upon all to make sure that we pursue the overall effort against terrorism, and we have made quite clear in our discussions with the Pakistani Government that as we pursue terrorism next door, that all countries have an obligation to work against terrorism within their own borders, and that we look to the Pakistani Government to work against extremist groups that operate out of Pakistan.”
The statement came on a day when strains between Pakistan and India and Pakistan’s role to stem the flow of fleeing Al-Qaeda fighters came under discussion also at the White House and the Pentagon.
There was also a US warning on Sunday against anyone who sought to provide shelter to Osama bin Laden, whose whereabouts remain a mystery despite the Al-Qaeda rout at Tora Bora. Some reports have suggested that he might have gone to Pakistan, although officials here do not appear to give too much credence to them.
Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said “any country in the world that would knowingly harbour bin Laden would be out of their minds,” and referred to the fate of the Taliban regime that, he asserted, should be a “good lesson” for any country thinking of helping the Al-Qaeda leader.
On the Pakistan-India situation, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said it was “important for Pakistan to curb the extremists”, but said the two countries had a common cause against terrorist enemies. He added that the parliament incident should not become a reason for India and Pakistan to take action against each. “This is a time for India and Pakistan to take actions against the terrorists.”
Pakistan has offered to join India’s investigations into the attack, but failed to evoke a favourable Indian response. Hardliners in New Delhi, relying on the precedent of America attacking the Taliban for harbouring Al-Qaeda, have reportedly suggested that India should attack alleged militant training camps in Azad Kashmir.
Asked to comment on such reports at his State Department briefing, Mr Boucher said he would not like to speculate “at this moment”. He said there had been “a variety of statements and charges and other statements made by people, but I think we look to the Indians to complete their investigation and get — see what information they come up with.”
Questioned specifically on whether the US intended to assume a more proactive role in helping to solve the Kashmir issue, Mr Boucher said: “Our willingness to help out if they (Pakistan and India) want us to is well known. At this point, clearly, we don’t want to see — as I think I did mention, and the secretary (of state) has mentioned before, we don’t want to see other actions which can make more difficult the pursuit of terrorism, which can make more difficult the fight against terrorism in the region. As the secretary I think said, we don’t want to see them start fighting in Kashmir. That has always been our view.”
Mr Boucher disclosed that Secretary Colin Powell had talked to Indian Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh on the telephone on Monday. Mr Powell had shortly after the attack on the parliament building in New Delhi also talked to General Pervez Musharraf. There has been a flurry of contacts between US diplomats on one hand and Pakistani and Indian officials on the other. Washington is anxious not to have its attention diverted from its current focus on Afghanistan.
QUESTION: Can you tell us any more today about what specifically you have asked in general of the Pakistanis to deal with the terrorism that has emanated from their country before against India?
BOUCHER: I will leave it with what I said before. We are looking for them to take action against extremist groups that might be operating from there, within Pakistan... There is a whole host of obligations which are incumbent upon every country because of the UN resolutions. We think that all governments should take those actions.
Mr Boucher acknowledged Pakistan’s attempt to prevent Al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters from crossing over from Afghanistan, saying Islamabad had deployed a lot of troops and increased the level of vigilance in the areas that adjoin Afghanistan, “particularly those regions where there has been fighting, where the al-Qaida people have been reported. I think they are making a lot of efforts along the border. It is a mountainous and inhospitable region, but they have made a lot of additional efforts to try to make sure that sort of thing doesn’t happen, and we are fairly confident that if it’s possible to find people trying to slip across the border, that they are making every effort to do so”.
At the White House, spokesman Ari Fleischer said cooperation from Pakistan had been “superb”. Pakistan had done a “very good job in helping to fight the war against terrorism, and continues to do so.”
Deputy Secretary Wolfowitz indicated that the campaign in Afghanistan was far from over, and replied to a question on where America’s next concentration might be by saying: “I think the places that we’re going to be looking at, immediately beyond Afghanistan, first and foremost (are) those places where we think senior Al-Qaeda might be trying to escape to, or those places where we have tentatively identified possible Al-Qaeda people hanging out.” This, for the time being, is seen as ruling out Iraq, which has no known link with Al-Qaeda, but it could be directed at Yemen, Sudan and Somalia.