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HVK Archives: US rules out intervention in Kashmir

US rules out intervention in Kashmir - The Telegraph

Seema Sirohi ()
22 May 1997

Title : US rules out intervention in Kashmir
Author : Seema Sirohi
Publication : The Telegraph
Date : May 22, 1997

The Clinton Administration ruled out any intervention in Kashmir
but strongly urged Pakistan to move forward to bring about a
resolution of the problem, throwing its weight behind the recent
progress reported from the Male summit.

Pakistani foreign minister Gohar Ayub Khan met US secretary of
state Madeleine Albright yesterday and briefed her about Pakistani
perceptions of the meetings with Indian Prime Minister I.K. Gujral.
The two officials spent a significant amount of the time in a
one-on-one meeting with no aides. Ms Albright said that she had a
"personal interest" in the resolution of the Kashmir problem
because of her father who worked on the issue in 1948 and later
wrote a book about it.

"I think from what we've heard there seems to be some potential
progress. We would consider it very important and a dialogue
between India and Pakistan about the subject would be very useful
and it would be terrific to resolve it," she said before going into
the meeting.

Nick Burns, the state department spokesman, said the two officials
had a "very detailed conversation on a variety of issues" between
India and Pakistan. But when asked about Kashmir he said there was
no plan for the US to intervene in any fashion except to encourage
both parties.

It appears that Mr Khan did not request US mediation on Kashmir
this time around, indicating a slight shift in the Pakistani
position.

"We have a long-held position that all the pre-independence state
of Jammu and Kashmir is disputed territory; that we think the
dispute must be resolved through negotiations between India and
Pakistan which should take into account the wishes of the people,"
Mr Burns said.

"We think that it is very important that it be resolved. If the US
can help in that process, I'm sure we will."

Ms Albright, in her now-famous forthright style of diplomacy,
appears to have delivered a tough message to Mr Khan on issues
ranging from the American hostage to signing the Chemical Weapons
Convention.

"The secretary of state urged Pakistan to ratify the CWC. She also
urged a full accounting for what happened to Donald Hutchings, the
American citizen who was taken captive on July 4, 1995 and who
remains missing," Mr Burns said.

Al Faran is believed to have taken Mr Hutchings and two other
westerners hostage in Kashmir.

The arrest of a Pakistani national working for the US Drug
Enforcement Agency in Pakistan also came up. Islamabad arrested
the man shortly after the New York police arrested a Pakistani Air
Force officer on charges of drug smuggling. The tit-for-tat move
by Pakistan has not helped its case in Washington. Ms Albright
discussed the arrests and the two sides agreed they "ought to work
together cooperatively to try to resolve the atmosphere that
produced these arrests."

Mr Khan struck a belligerent note on the F-16 problem and issued a
veiled threat to the Americans about going to court if the money
were not returned before February 1999. In a rather undiplomatic
fashion, he raised the litigation scenario before the meeting and
with Ms Albright beside him. The move is unlikely to have won him
any goodwill from the Americans. It was the second time in less
than two days that Mr Khan felt compelled to threaten the Americans
with legal action on the F-16s.


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