"Tension with India Must End"
"No US role in Kashmir, Clinton assures Gujral"
Pakistani and Indian prime ministers met on Tuesday (Sept 23) in New York shortly after having met the US president a day earlier. With Nawaz Sharif was urging President Clinton to show a "special interest" in the Kashmir dispute, and I.K. Gujral insisting that the US have no role whatsoever in the regional conflict, hopes of a solution appear bleak. This on top of the the inability of the resumed foreign secretary-level negotiations to produce the desired results in their third New Delhi round the other day. What are both sides hoping to acheive with no one ready to exhibit any flexibility?
India desires normalization of ties and resumption of trade and cooperation, all the while keeping a status quo on the Kashmir imbroglio. Pakistan, on the other hand, seeks to use normalization of ties as a lever to achieve a positive solution to the Kashmir problem. None of the parties are willing to show any relaxation in their stance......hence the deadlock.
Observers were of the view that the meeting of both leaders with
US President Bill Clinton would be of greater importance. U.S. President
told Mr. Sharif that he intended his meetings with Mr. Sharif and Mr. Gujral
as "a clear statement'' of his "involvement in the region''. On the other
hand, Clinton assured the Indian PM that the US had no intention of
interfering in Kashmir , and would have no role in it's settlement.
A question many people are asking: "Which of his statements will prove
itself untrue?"
"Lie" is SUCH a harsh word :)
Deadlock or no deadlock, simply the fact that both governments have expressed a willingness (even without budging!) to discuss the issues at hand is encouraging. The fact of the matter is that the present confrontation with India is costing Pakistan so dearly as to have the country engulfed in a worsening debt trap. The debt-servicing burden, especially of short-term external loans, is growing by the quarter and the country has been teetering on the brink of default. The economy is being described by all and sundry in the world as being in a state of free fall. The present cold war rivalry with India cannot be sustained for any length of time. The fact that India is suffering similar difficulties is no consolation.
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