ALMATY, 4 June — Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf said yesterday he was prepared "unconditionally" to hold talks on the Kashmir crisis with India’s leader during a regional summit on security in the Kazakh economic capital Almaty. "I don’t have any conditions (for a meeting). You need to ask this question to (Prime Minister Atal Behari) Vajpayee," Musharraf told a news conference after a meeting with Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev.
Indian Deputy Foreign Minister Omar Abdullah earlier reiterated New Delhi’s position that direct talks with Pakistan would not take place unless there were clear signs of a reduction in the number of militants crossing into Indian-administered Kashmir.
Questioned on the prospects of avoiding war between the two nuclear rivals, Musharraf replied: "I will do my utmost. I hope I will be successful. They say you can’t clap with one hand, you clap with two hands, but the second has to be equally supportive in avoiding war. That is how we will succeed in avoiding war."
The Pakistani leader said Nazarbayev had told him he had been unable to obtain an assurance from Vajpayee during a separate meeting that the Indian premier would agree to speak to him. On the prospects for Russian mediation, Musharraf said President Vladimir Putin, who was due to arrive in Almaty later yesterday, was "in a very important position to play a definitive role in mediation between India and Pakistan".
India, however, ruled out tripartite talks on Kashmir with Russia and Pakistan but said it was willing to take "appropriate steps" to avoid a conflict in South Asia if promises made by Islamabad were verifiably carried out. "I don’t want to indulge in wishful thinking," said Brajesh Mishra, India’s national security adviser and Vajpayee’s principal secretary, in response to a question on whether India would participate in any tripartite talks with Russia and Pakistan. The senior official also ruled out any lower level talks. "The world wants to avoid a conflict between India and Pakistan. So do we," Mishra said.
Musharraf and Vajpayee are in Almaty to attend a one-day Conference on Interaction and Confidence-building measures in Asia (CICA) today. The conference has been totally overshadowed by the crisis in Kashmir, which is divided between India and Pakistan and claimed by both.
Putin said he could mediate between the two countries, though India has rejected the offer. The Russian president will meet both Vajpayee and Musharraf in bilateral meetings this afternoon. But if he even manages to initiate some kind of contact, there will not be much time as Musharraf is due to leave this evening. Vajpayee stays on until tomorrow morning.
"The president of Pakistan is here in search of peace. He has come here in search of dialogue with India on all outstanding issues including Kashmir," Memon said. "The world needs peace and for peace we need dialogue ... it requires the two countries to come to the table. Pakistan is there and waiting for India to come."
The Indian Army claimed to have killed six Pakistani soldiers and destroyed their bunkers in cross-border firing in Kashmir yesterday.
The United News of India (UNI) quoted Indian defense officials in New Delhi as saying that at least six Pakistani soldiers were killed in heavy exchange of artillery fire in the Mendhar sector of Poonch district Monday morning.
Russia’s and China’s conciliation attempts are part of intense diplomatic activity to calm tensions that the United States fears could derail its efforts to pursue its war on terror in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington. After meeting Nazarbayev yesterday, Vajpayee blamed regional tension on "border terrorism", but made no direct mention of Pakistan.
