Author:
Publication: Dawn
Date: February 16, 2005
[This article is posted here not
so much about the comments on Israel, valid as they are. It is posted for
the comments on Kashmir and the advice to Pakistan.]
Israel will be the last country
to be disarmed (of its nuclear arsenal), says British secretary of state
Jack Straw.
Tel Aviv was facing a threat to
its very existence (from its Arab neighbours), so it would be the last
state to be disarmed, Mr Straw told a select gathering at a local hotel
on Monday.
He was responding to a question
by Col. Ikramullah (Retd) on why Islamabad was being singled out in expressing
fears that its nuclear assets might fall into the hands of extremists,
ignoring the cases of New Delhi and Tel Aviv.
Mr Straw, however, said that the
question of Tel Aviv's disarmament would become insignificant if, like
Egypt and Jordan, other Arab neighbours struck peace deals with Israel.
CM's adviser Mowahid Husain Shah
asked as the occupation of Kashmir, Chechnya and Palestine was causing
militancy in the regions, why this basic reason was not being eliminated,
the foreign minister said the conflict in Kashmir could not be presented
as an excuse for "terrorism" in the area.
The stand-off between India and
Pakistan on the issue was dangerous as it had brought them to the brink
of war two years ago, threatening the lives of hundreds of thousands of
people, he said while extending support of his country for a composite
dialogue between the two neighbours.
He said a stable and peaceful Kashmir
and arrangements that respected the legitimate concerns of all Kashmiris
had the potential to unlock full potential of regional cooperation and
security in the subcontinent.
He did not directly reply to a question
by human rights activist Asma Jehangir about United Kingdom's support for
an Army dictator in Pakistan.
Admitting that Pakistan had a chequered
history witnessing democracy and Army regimes at various occasions, Mr
Jack Straw said it was a complicated situation for him to comment on.
He, however, said that the history
of democracy in Europe was not very old as some members of the European
Union had come under democratic rule only a few decades back.
Answering a question about the coalition
forces' Iraq exit plan, Mr Straw said they could immediately pull out of
it whenever the Iraqis said so. But they were unlikely to say so until
they did not build up their own forces, he added.
However, he said UN resolution 1546,
if not reviewed, allowed stay of coalition forces in Iraq up to December
2005. About the justification for the attack on Iraq, Mr Straw said Saddam
Hussein had violated 12 UN resolutions. The US and UK, it may be added,
have been citing the presence of weapons of mass destruction and introduction
of democracy in Iraq as the reasons for the attack.
Earlier in his lecture, the UK foreign
minister said that the coming century was of Asia's. The potential for
a Pakistan at peace with its neighbours, stamping out extremism, investing
in education and building on its economic success was enormous.
He said he wanted Britain and Pakistan
to build from their already strong relationship a modern partnership for
engagement and understanding that would benefit not just themselves, but
others too.
Mr Straw stressed the need for strengthening
ties between Muslim and non-Muslim nations to meet world challenges. "In
a world where so many of our challenges require international action, we
need to strengthen partnerships between Muslim and non-Muslim nations alike,"
he said.
Mr Straw said that the profound
links between the societies were also another reason for greater relations
between the Muslim world and the West. The British foreign secretary said
that there was need to avoid the temptation to focus on supposed "clash
of civilisations" while building the understanding. "Within Islam and within
Christianity, there is a common respect for the sanctity of human life,
for toleration and for humanity," he said.
