ISLAMABAD, 17 October — Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and US Secretary of State Colin Powell agreed yesterday that any future Afghan government should include the opposition as well as moderate elements of the ruling Taleban.
The agreement means Pakistan — whose support for the US strikes against Afghanistan is crucial to the global "war on terrorism" — has ensured its interests in its fractious neighbor will be taken into consideration should the Taleban government fall in the near future. "I made the point to the president that this isn’t just a temporary spike in the relationship," Powell told a news conference.
"We believe as a result of the actions taken by Pakistan over the last five weeks we truly are at the beginning of a strengthened relationship, a relationship that will grow and thrive."
He said Musharraf’s decision to join the coalition despite the threat of violent and potentially destabilizing protests had been "bold and courageous" and would be rewarded.
"In the coming months, the United States will take concrete steps to strengthen Pakistan’s economy and further broaden our commercial and trade ties," Powell said, noting in particular the need to reschedule the country’s crippling debt.
Musharraf said his government’s decision to support the anti-terror coalition had been one of principle and added that Pakistan was in it for the long haul, although he voiced hope the campaign would be short and avoid civilian casualties. He said it should be "short and targeted", and political processes should be on the "fast track".
"To this extent we will certainly carry on cooperating as long as the operation lasts," he said.
Musharraf also vowed to check "extremism" in Pakistan, which has been rocked by a series of violent anti-US protests by extremists.
Powell pledged that the United States would only back a post-Taleban government in Afghanistan that was friendly to its neighbors and identified the dispute over Kashmir as "central" to relations between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan. Powell said the Kashmir dispute could be resolved if "all parties" engaged with a willingness to address their concerns in mutually acceptable ways. Powell’s statement on Kashmir drew criticism from India with Ministry of External Affairs spokeswoman Nirupama Rao telling a news conference that "terrorism" sponsored by Pakistan in Kashmir — and not Kashmir itself — was the problem.
"There should be no confusion between cause and effect. The present situation in Jammu and Kashmir is a consequence of state-sponsored terrorism and not the cause, as being portrayed in some sections."
In India Powell met Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh and offered to be helpful if both India and Pakistan wanted the US to mediate between them.
