Be good, Clinton tells Musharraf

But indications are that President Clinton failed to win any assurances from Pakistan’s military regime on nuclear disarmament, Kashmir or democracy.

White House spokesman Joe Lockhart, however, said Clinton’s “serious, frank” discussions with Gen Pervez Musharraf achieved the main goal of the visit — to register his grave concern over the direction of the longtime US ally. “The President felt it was important to come here and deliver this message personally and keep the lines of communication open between the two governments,” Lockhart said after the talks. “That was accomplished here this afternoon.”

Clinton pressed Musharraf to set a timetable for a return to democracy and warned that “embarking on the arms race was an expensive way to squander the country’s wealth,” Lockhart said. He also urged him to open talks with India over Kashmir, to use his influence to fight terrorism and to spare the life of deposed Prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

But a senior US official told AFP that Musharraf stood his ground. “We heard no new assurances,” said the official, adding that Musharraf continued to insist that the democratic rule he overthrew was “deeply flawed”.

Later in the address to the Pakistani nation, Clinton said: “We can be a force for peace but we cannot force peace. Only you and India can do that through dialogue.” He ruled out any American mediation on Kashmir and warned Pakistan that while he sympathised over the human rights issues in Kashmir, there was no military solution to the Kashmir question and Pakistan would lose sympathy if it did not respect the Line of Control. “Do not attempt to redraw borders with blood,” he said.

In the 20-minute speech telecast live by Pakistan Television, Clinton talked about the country’s absence of democracy, the threat posed by extremists and terrorism to Pakistan and the US, the wisdom of signing the CTBT and the folly of pursuing a confrontational line of action with India, with special reference to the Kashmir issue.

Clinton said that Pakistan has to adopt a “more tolerant and generous vision” if South Asia is to be the success story of the next 50 years. Clinton was bitter in his criticism of Pakistan’s repeated diversions from democracy. “While I share your disappointment over the past democratic governments, democracy cannot develop if it is constantly uprooted.” He said that while he considered General Musharraf’s announcement of local body elections as a “big step,” America wanted a “complete plan, a road map,” for return to full democracy.

Clinton said that the people of Pakistan should decide their future, hinting that the military had no business to do so.

On the issue of terrorism, Clinton said that in the manner that Pakistan and the US had co-operated in fighting the narcotics trade, he looked forward to similar co-operation in fighting terrorism. “These are our common enemies, whether they plant bombs at bus stands or embassies.”

The US president also asked Pakistan whether they felt any safer as a nuclear power. “Are you more secure? Is a war with India less likely?” he asked, as he pushed for Pakistan to sign the CTBT, after which “the world will rally behind you”.

Clinton talked about the economic impact of the confrontational approach adopted by Pakistan. On the issue of relations with India, the US president stressed that while he had broached the subject with the Indian government whom he urged to seize the opportunity for dialogue, it was Pakistan’s responsibility to “create conditions for dialogue”. These conditions included respecting the Line of Control.

Calling them “useless costly struggles,” Clinton said that the “stark truth” was that Pakistan can ill afford to provoke a bigger conflict and that there was no military solution to Kashmir. Quoting verses of Iqbal and sayings of Jinnah, Clinton said that the bottomline was “dialogue, not destruction” and this was the path that he wanted Pakistan to pursue.

Clinton gave his speech after a delay of one and a half hours, and Pakistan Television said that this was because the US president’s parleys with Pakistan Chief Executive had extended beyond the scheduled two hours.

Earlier, President Bill Clinton arrived at Chaklala Air Force Base amidst very tight security arrangements and immediately left by his limousine for the Presidential Palace in Islamabad, to meet his host, President Rafiq Ahmad Tarrar for 15 minutes before entering into discussions with General Musharraf. One gaffe of the day was that Tarrar was not in place when Clinton arrived at the palace, and rushed to meet Clinton soon after he arrived, who smiled at the reception.

Besides this, all things went like clockwork. In fact, at the insistence of the US security officials, Clinton’s motorcade travelled on the right side of the highway to Islamabad and back as is the case in the US, against the usual left side where Pakistanis drive. However, this did not cause problems as the highway had been blocked for hours ahead of the visit. Soldiers were standing guard on streets and in corners and jeeps mounted with machine guns patrolling the tree-lined highway from the airport to Islamabad.

He was received by the Pakistan foreign minister, Abdus Sattar, at the air base, which stands next to Islamabad Airport, where all commercial flights had been cancelled for the length of the presidential stop-over.

Along the route to Islamabad, which soldiers had combed for explosives, the streets were lined with armed soldiers and police. But unlike the motorcade route in India, where the roads were clogged with well-wishers, the public was stopped from lining the roads to greet the US president by the local administration and the US president saw bare roads with intense security arrangements. Since this was not a state visit, the usual pleasantries were done away with.

Clinton held two meetings with Gen. Musharraf, participating in a working lunch before making a television address to the Pakistani nation. Conspicuous along the way to the meetings were about a dozen boldly lettered signs calling attention to the crisis in Kashmir. “You were fair in Kosovo. Be fair in Kashmir,” one said.