- NEW YORK (PTI) -- Pakistan
President Pervez MUSHARRAF has ruled out conversion of the Line of Control
into an International Border, saying he was not a "fool" to pursue
this and declared that he would raise the Kashmir issue here "all
the way".
-
- "Main bewkoof Nahin Hoon", (I am not a fool),
Musharraf snapped back when asked by newsmen last night whether he was
going to propose conversion of the LoC in J and K during his address to
the U.N General Assembly and during the bilateral talks with U.S President
George W Bush.
-
- "We will raise it (Kashmir) all the way," he
said when asked whether he would raise the issue during his meetings here.
-
- To a query whether he would focus on this subject with
the same vigour in the international fora like before, he said it will
be much more than that" and that the message to India will be "as
firm as we can".
-
- Earlier, soon after arrival from Chicago Musharraf said
there was no possibility of his meeting with Prime Minister Atal Bihari
Vajpayee here.
-
- India has already ruled out the possibility of talks
between the two leaders who last met in Kathmandu in January this year
on the sidelines of the SAARC summit.
-
- Musharraf is due to address the UN session today while
Atal Bihari Vajpayee will be delivering his speech tomorrow.
-
- Musharraf said during his meetings with the Prime Ministers
of Japan and Denmark he had expressed his concern about the situation at
the LoC and the international borders with India.
-
- Referring to general elections in Pakistan, the military
ruler said he told the leaders of the two countries that the polls would
be free and fair.
-
- "Send any number of observers to observe the elections",
he added.
-
- He said he would caution President Bush to seek the consensus
of the international community and of Muslim nations before starting military
operations against Iraq.
-
- Any expansion of war in the region, he said, might undermine
the allied campaign to stabilize Afghanistan and strengthen its central
government.
-
- "The operation needs to be taken to its logical
end," he said. "It needs to be culminated with government established
over the whole of Afghanistan. Leaving it half there would be extremely
dangerous."
-
- Replying to a question, he defended his decision last
month to amend the Pakistani Constitution unilaterally, expand his control
over the country and limit any challenges from former Prime Ministers Benazir
Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif.
-
- Earlier, addressing a gathering of business leaders at
a luncheon organised by the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations, Musharraf
accused India of dramatically increasing its stockpile of conventional
weapons in a move that could jeopardise the regional power balance.
-
- He said New Delhi had stepped up defence spending by
50 per cent in the past three years. India spent 4.5 billion dollars a
year on high-tech imports, putting it on course to become the world's biggest
purchaser of arms, he added.
-
- According to him Pakistan in contrast, had frozen its
defence expenditures at the level they were three years ago.
-
- "The visible tilt in conventional arms balance between
India and Pakistan has dangerous portents and must be checked," he
said adding the development was all the more intimidating because 95 per
cent of Indian forces were deployed against his country.
-
- Musharraf reiterated that Pakistan would not initiate
a war with India and would not be the first to resume a nuclear testing.
He said Pakistan would ensure for itself the strongest possible defence
against aggression.
-
- He said Pakistan was ready to work with its neighbour
and long-time foe to diffuse the tension in the region, but the only way
to achieve regional stability was to settle the question of Kashmiri sovereignty,
he said.
-
- "A sustained dialogue for a principled and lasting
settlement must commence without further delay," he said adding "We
remain ready for such a dialogue at any time, any place and any level."
-
- In an apparent reference to India, Musharraf said the
terrorist attacks on Western targets inside Pakistan had been "abetted"
by an "intelligence organisation in a neighbouring country".
-
-
- Copyright © 2002 Press Trust of India Ltd. All rights
reserved.
|
