Russia, China Poke Into India-Pakistan Conflict

June 4, 2002
ALMATY, Kazakhstan – Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has again refused to meet with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf amid the worsening military confrontation between the two nuclear powers, even though both men are scheduled to be in the same room during a 16-nation Asian summit being held today.

Despite growing international pressure for a meeting, Indian officials accompanying Vajpayee insist the time is not right for direct talks to end the six-month military standoff over the disputed Kashmir region.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who arrived Monday night, is to act as mediator, holding separate talks with both Musharraf and Vajpayee. He is expected to carry a message from the Pakistani leader to the Indian premier in a high-stakes example of shuttle diplomacy.

Chinese dictator Jiang Zemin will also hold separate rounds of talks with Musharraf and Vajpayee. Russia has traditionally sided with India, and China has built close ties with Pakistan.

As the leaders gathered for the Asian summit in Almaty, many diplomats said they hoped Putin and Jiang could achieve a breakthrough by bringing the Indian and Pakistani leaders together. But hopes of such a dramatic development are fading.

On the eve of the talks, Musharraf told Russia's RTR television network he was ready for direct negotiations with Vajpayee. He accused the Indian side of stalling.

"As far as I am concerned, the main problem is the obstinacy and the reluctance of the Indian leadership to join us in a process of dialogue," Musharraf said.

However, Indian diplomats insisted Islamabad must first demonstrate a willingness to defuse tensions by pulling its military back from the border areas and the Line of Control that separates Indian- and Pakistani-controlled parts of Kashmir before talks could begin.

India accuses Pakistan of backing separatist Islamic terrorists inside Indian-controlled Jammu and Kashmir, an accusation that Pakistan denies. Earlier, Musharraf said Pakistan was ready to "unconditionally" hold negotiations with India in a bid to defuse the explosive situation, and insisted Pakistan would not start a war with India.

"Pakistan will not start a war. We support solving the conflict through peaceful means," Musharraf told reporters in the Tajik capital Dushanbe during a stopover en route to Almaty.

"I'm ready to meet anywhere and at any level. I would like the talks to be one-on-one, but if he doesn't want to, I will not insist," Musharraf said. "I don't have any conditions."

"I have no plans to meet [Musharraf]," Vajpayee said Sunday.

Copyright 2002 by United Press International.
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