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Musharraf Seek US Help Over Kashmir
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“The
cause for the conflict (with India) is Kashmir
dispute,” Mushrraf said.
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Islamabad,
January 13 (IslamOnline.net) - Despite the US making it clear that it
would not mediate on Kashmir, the Pakistani President has asked for
Washington’s help in resolving the issue, as the latter is still mum
on Pervez Musharraf’s recent grab of power.
Speaking
to a four-member US Senate delegation, Musharraf called
on Washington to help resolve the Kashmir issue which, he said, was
the “root cause” for tension in South Asia, the Pakistani
daily The
Dawn reported Wednesday, January 12.
He
recalled his talks with US President George Bush on the need to
address long-standing issues like Palestine
and Kashmir
to bring an end to the present turmoil.
The
United States
maintained that the Kashmir
issue should be resolved bilaterally and refused to mediate unless
asked by both countries.
Musharraf
had an in-depth exchange of views with the delegation led by Senate
Majority Leader Bill First on Pakistan-US relations and regional and
international issues, including the Pakistan-India peace process, the
paper said.
Also,
Musharraf, in an interview to the private Geo TV telecast Wednesday
night, said that US should help Pakistan
in resolving the Kashmir issue with India. “Otherwise it could become a multilateral issue.”
“I
think at the moment there is improvement in relations. But the cause
for the conflict has not yet been solved. This is a dangerous thing.
The cause for the conflict is Kashmir
dispute. Until that is resolved, we cannot say with confidence that
the relations have been improved,” he said.
Coupled
with the pledge for US help over Kashmir, Musharraf reiterated
Islamabad's commitment to root-out the menace of “terrorism”, to
“ensure a secure environment for progress and prosperity of the
country”.
The
visiting senators briefed Musharraf about their talks in India. They
expressed support to the ongoing bilateral dialogue to resolve all
pending issues between Pakistan and India, including the Jammu and
Kashmir issue.
Musharraf
Dilemma
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US
Senators Mitch McConnell (L) Bill Frist (2L) Mike De Wine (2R) and
Norm Coleman (R), with Kasuri (C).
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The
developments come as Musharraf's
potentially explosive announcement last month that he would not step
down as military chief and rule his country as a civilian, drew barely
a whisper from the US media and Washington
officials, the Fox news reported Thursday, January 13.
The
silence, foreign policy analysts told Fox, reveals as much about US
policy toward Pakistan since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks as any public remarks could.
While
US officials may not wish to criticize Musharraf, analysts say it
might be a mistake in the long term for the United States
to turn a blind eye to Pakistan's military ruler, it added.
'Tremendous
Ally'
Talking
to reporters later, the visiting US senators appreciated Pakistan's
role in the fight “against terrorism” and stressed the importance of
strategic and political relationship between Islamabad and Washington, The
Dawn said.
Senator
Bill First said that the purpose of this visit was to exchange views
with Pakistani leaders and broaden and deepen “our important
relations - both strategic and political”.
These
strategic and political ties, he added, were very important to the United States
and Pakistan. The delegation earlier held talks with Foreign Minister Khurshid
Kasuri and also met members of the Senate and the National Assembly.
Describing
Pakistan
as a 'tremendous ally' of the United States, Senator First said they discussed ties between the two countries,
ranging from political, strategic and economic to social relations.
A
large part of the discussion centred on security cooperation, he said
while referring to the designating of Pakistan
last year as a major non-Nato ally of the United States.
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