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Journalism of Courage
AS US Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca landed in New Delhi, a senior Bush administration official in Washington was warning of a ‘‘risk of war’’ between India and Pakistan. US Undersecretary of Defence Douglas Feith told a conference on US-Indian defense trade that ‘‘There is a risk of war. You’re talking about two countries with nuclear weapons, so the risks are very large. We are focused on defusing those tensions.’’
‘‘We are focused intensely on this issue of India and Pakistan and the Kashmir problem, and the dangers from the mobilisations that have taken place,’’ Feith said of Rocca’s visit to the region, her third since March. Rocca, who landed in New Delhi tonight, is expected to call on External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh, Defence Minister George Fernandes and National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra on Tuesday before meeting with General Pervez Musharraf in Islamabad on Wednesday.
Though Feith said both countries had ‘‘enormous interests’’ in reducing tensions and averting a war, he singled out Musharraf’s role in curbing infiltration by militants from Pakistan. ‘‘President Musharraf knows that reining in the groups that are doing these cross-border attacks is something that is not in the interest of India alone,’’ said Feith. ‘‘He has an enormous interest in ensuring that those kinds of attacks do not begin, and do not risk war further between India and Pakistan, and do not risk undermining everything that he is trying to accomplish for Pakistan,’’ Feith added.
Feith also spoke glowingly of enhanced Indo-US defence ties, saying defense officials from both countries were accelerating efforts to expand bilateral ties. The US and India had already signed an agreement on securing shared defense information, and were cooperating on naval operations, he said.
Feith hoped the group’s second set of meetings — scheduled for next Tuesday and Wednesday — would cement closer ties between the two nations.
‘‘We have a whole set of items on the agenda, from military to military relations, … joint exercises, defense trade cooperation, general strategic discussions on the region and Asia broadly,’’ Feith told Reuters after the conference.
‘‘It is clear that in the past year, the United States and India have been moving together in the right direction,’’ Feith said. ‘‘The United States recognises an interest in looking positively on a much wider range of activities with India, including the area of defense trade and technology cooperation.’’ (Reuters)
