NEW DELHI, July 28: US Secretary of State Colin Powell on Sunday described Kashmir as an international issue, urged India to free all political prisoners in the disputed region and said New Delhi should invite international observers to watch the proposed controversial polls it intends to hold there later this year.
Most pro-freedom groups have rejected the proposed India-sponsored polls as no substitute for their struggle for self-determination.
An Indian foreign office spokesperson said the issue of political prisoners was not raised at any of the meetings Mr Powell had with senior officials, including a one-on-one meeting with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.
“He did not call for formal observers,” the spokesperson Nirupama Rao told reporters following Mr Powell’s landmark remarks at a news conference in New Delhi. “In the discussion it was clear that he (Powell) fully understood our views in the matter — that we have said very clearly that we do not object to diplomatic representatives or representatives of the media in individual capacity, wishing to come to see the elections but not to investigate or certify them.” NGOs will not be permitted, she said.
The spokesperson also said that Pakistan’s attitude towards the impending polls would be the litmus test of Islamabad’s intentions towards Delhi.
“It was clear that there would be a direct message that Pakistan cannot and should not disrupt the forthcoming Jammu and Kashmir elections through violence,” the spokesperson said in remarks shortly after Mr Powell’s departure for Islamabad.
“There was ample recognition for India’s position that what Pakistan does or does not do in the run-up to our elections in Jammu and Kashmir will be the litmus test of their intentions,” she said.
Speaking at a news conference before his meeting with Mr Vajpayee, Mr Powell said he would explore further steps India and Pakistan could take to defuse their tensions.
“I do take note of the fact, however, that the situation has improved considerably over the past month. We have been able, for example, on the US side, to return our families who had temporarily moved back and we have also been able to change our alert levels or caution levels to a point where we are now hopeful that more tourists, more American tourists will return to India and more businessmen and women will come and find ways to enhance trade between the United States and India,” Mr Powell said.
A host of senior US officials would be visiting the region soon, starting with a second round of fire-fighting by Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage due here next month.
Despite all the efforts by Washington and the varied responses from New Delhi and Islamabad in recent months, Mr Powell said the military standoff in the region remained rather tense.
“And so we look to India to take further de-escalatory actions as Pakistan makes good on its pledges to permanently cease support for infiltration. I look forward to my conversation later today with President Musharraf on the pledges that he has made to the US and to the international community.
“We are also looking to the future. It is time to get started on making regional stability permanent. Kashmir is on the international agenda. The US will extend a helping hand to all sides so that they can achieve a more peaceful, less divisive future,” he said.
Mr Powell said the United States was looking to both India and Pakistan to take steps that begin to bring peace to the region and to ensure a better future for the Kashmiri people. The problems with Kashmir cannot be resolved through violence, but only through a healthy political process and a vibrant dialogue.
“We welcome India’s commitment to hold free and fair elections, and we believe an inclusive election, meeting these standards, can serve as the first step towards peace and reconciliation. We look forward to concrete steps by India to foster Kashmiri confidence in the election process. Permitting independent observers and freeing political prisoners would be helpful,” he said.
The United States looked to all parties to do their part to ensure that the upcoming elections were held in safety and “without interference from those who would like to spoil them, for those who do not wish to see peace and reconciliation.” Kashmiris want to run or vote in the elections. And if they do so, they should be allowed to do so, without endangering their lives.
Mr Powell stressed, however, that elections alone could not solve the problems between India and Pakistan, “nor can they erase the scars of so many years of strife.”
“Elections can, however, be a first step in a broader process that begins to address Kashmiri grievances, and leads India and Pakistan back to dialogue. Only a productive and sustained bilateral dialogue on all issues, including Kashmir, will prevent future crises and will finally bring peace to the region,” Mr Powell said.
Mr Powell said it was difficult to be accurate about the issue of cross-border infiltration.
“There has been a reduction in infiltration levels, whether one would classify it as marginally or not marginally, I can’t answer. But it seems clear from the information I have that infiltration is continuing. And I think we must make every effort to end it. President Musharraf has pledged that he would end it, and would end it on a permanent basis and I look forward to discussing that in greater detail with him and sharing the information he has compared to the information I have received here in India,” he said.
“I think it is important that the infiltration come to an end so that we can create conditions that will allow dialogue, will allow both sides to be confident in one another again, that will create conditions that will permit a peaceful, fair and open election in Kashmir later this year and then following the Kashmiri elections, then Pakistani parliamentary elections, we will be in a better position to see the kind of sustained dialogue that I think is needed between the two sides to move forward on a variety of issues that are outstanding between the two sides to include the issue of Kashmir.”
Mr Powell was asked if US was now a full mediator on the Kashmir issue.
He said: “What the US is trying to do is to play the role of a friend. A friend to India, a good friend to Pakistan, a good friend to the other nations of South Asia. I met in my office the other day with the prime minister of Sri Lanka. When last I was here, on my way out, I visited in Nepal. So the United States has good relations with all of the nations of South Asia, perhaps better then at any time in the last quarter century. And we are anxious to improve those relations: US-Indian relations, US-Pakistani relations, US-Sri Lankan,-Bangladeshi, all of those nations.”