JEDDAH, 6 June — The ongoing military standoff between nuclear rivals India and Pakistan is not going to escalate into a war. Better sense will prevail upon the leadership of both the countries and the crisis will be averted, said former Minister of State for External Affairs Salman Khurshid, who was in the Kingdom on a private visit.

"My strong personal feeling is that we are not heading for a war. Things are really bad... but I think India, Pakistan both will find some way out of it," Salman said.

Speaking to Arab News in an exclusive interview, Salman, who is a senior member of India’s main opposition Congress party, said that there is no short-term answer to terrorism. And as far as the Kashmir issue is concerned, whoever is saying that the issue could be solved through war, lacks vision and is short-sighted. The issue could only be resolved through a dialogue followed by a political process.

"To tell you the truth, the final answer is not the military answer; there is a military extent to which we can go, but ultimately there has to be a political answer to it."

But when reminded that to pursue a political solution, statesmanship and political will are needed, the veteran Congress leader agreed and said: "Of course to meet desired political end, statesmanship is always needed. And I agree it’s not there yet."

Salman also expressed deep anguish over Pakistan’s support to cross-border terrorism and said it has to stop to create an atmosphere for initiating dialogue. "At present on the ground we keep talking and they keep hitting. They have got to stop hitting and then only talk will lead us somewhere." Though Salman was optimistic that the tension on the border will ease with some face-saving on both the sides, he said "if at all there is a war with Pakistan our party will support the government." But he added: "It does not mean that we agree with the government’s resolve on the issue in totality." He said the Congress has strong reservation about the handling of the situation which has the potential of igniting a nuclear war in South Asia.

He further said that whenever Congress chief Sonia Gandhi met Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on the present situation, she always put forward her party’s views. But in a special situation like today’s, the party cannot make public its reservation on the issue. This will sound as if the Congress wants to capitalize politically on the military standoff, he added. "We are cooperating with the government to give a common voice of India in an hour of national crisis," he said.

Salman said Vajpayee’s policy toward Pakistan had "unfortunately been mishandled" and accused the government of not being able to subdue Islamabad although all Indian political parties had given support to it. The veteran Congress leader also blasted the government for its foreign policy which he said leaned too heavily toward the US and gave the impression that New Delhi was crawling before the superpower.

"(External Affairs Minister) Jaswant Singh is closer to the US than is necessary for an Indian foreign minister," he said. "We must have very good relations with the US. But it doesn’t mean that the Americans don’t even come half way and we go three-fourths of the way because they don’t respect people who crawl."

New Delhi had protested vigorously in 1998 when former South African President Nelson Mandela had said Kashmir was an area of tension, but it did not flinch when former US President Bill Clinton called Kashmir a disputed zone.

"Clinton says on the floor of the Parliament that it is a disputed territory and we all clap. No president, prime minister or foreign minister of any country has ever said this before on Indian soil. "Clinton said it again at the press conference he addressed alongside Vajpayee and said it again on the lawns of the White House.

If Vajpayee told Clinton privately that we took exception, he should at least have informed the standing committee on External Affairs Ministry or the leader of the opposition. "We are very very concerned about the US stand on Kashmir," Salman said.

About the communal clashes in Gujarat, Salman said "what happened there has shell-shocked the entire world. And my assessment is that 3,000 to 4,000 people have been killed in the riots." He also admitted that his party reacted late on the pogrom unleashed against Muslims by the Hindu fanatics in the state. "But we are still sticking to our stand that Chief Minister Narendra Modi should be removed if normalcy has to be restored fast in the riot-shattered western state", Salman said.