No change in position on Kashmir, say US officials

Without directly referring to Kashmir, the statement stressed the unacceptability of “continuing violence and bloodshed” in South Asia and said that tension in the region can only be resolved by peaceful means.

The Clinton administration was at pains to explain the President’s remark a day prior to talks with Vajpayee that Kashmir was the core issue in Indo-Pak tensions, with its officials stating that the use of this terminology did not in any way indicate a change in the US position laid out by him during his trip to the Indian sub-continent last March.

The Indian side was caught by surprise by the remark as it appeared to reflect the Pakistani stand. In a damage control exercise, the White House arranged a briefing to clarify that the American position remained unchanged.

Minister for External Affairs Jaswant Singh told reporters that the US side had not insisted that talks between India and Pakistan should take place now. “What was expressed was great concern about the developments in the region and it was left at that.”

Vajpayee told Clinton that India, as the initiator of the dialogue process, would never stand in the way of talks, reconciliation and amity. But the timing of such a dialogue should be left to India.

Clinton reiterated his stand about the need for respect by both sides for the Line of Control, renunciation of violence, restraint in responding to violence and finding a way to renew the bilateral dialogue when conditions were appropriate, US officials said.

On the contentious issue of nuclear non-proliferation, the joint statement was a reiteration of known positions of the two countries and said they had agreed to continue their dialogue on security and non-proliferation designed to further narrow their differences.

Reflecting the upswing in economic ties, a large portion of the joint statement was devoted to cooperation in a variety of areas, such as power, information technology and agriculture.

On the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), India promised to continue efforts to develop a broad political consensus “with the purpose of bringing these discussions to a successful conclusion.”

The shared perception on terrorism reflected in the statement which recorded the determination of the two countries to further reinforce bilateral cooperation in the area.

Vajpayee was warmly met by Clinton as well as by Vice President Al Gore who hosted a lunch in his honour. Before he leaves for home on Sunday, the Prime Minister will be the President’s guest at a White House dinner.

Cancellation of a joint Press conference by Vajpayee and Clinton turned into a minor controversy and some news for the western media. American officials attributed the cancellation to the health problems of the Indian leader.

At a White House press briefing, Bruce Riedel, Director in the President’s National Security Council, and Karl Inderfurth, Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian affairs, stated that Pakistan has a role to play in both resolving the Kashmir prolem and in helping to defuse tensions there.

Asked whether the US has seen any reduction in the support to militants in Kashmir by elements in Pakistan, Riedel said, “we have not seen sufficient reduction in the level of violence in Kashmir. We have seen some steps but that is not sufficient.”

Answering questions, Jaswant Singh said there was no discussion during the talks on the development of missile by any country other than on America’s National Missile Defence (NMD).

It had been made clear by the Indian side that it would take corrective steps if NMD resulted in any developments “in our region which are adverse to India’s security,” he said.