24 May 2002
Military Action "Must Not Be An Option" In South Asia
(U.S. "disappointed" with Pakistan's decision to test missiles) (1530)
State Department Deputy Spokesman Philip Reeker continued to voice the
Bush administration's "strong concerns" over the potential for
conflict between India and Pakistan, and said the administration
remains "deeply engaged" with both parties to try to reduce tensions.
"[R]ather than being a solution, any military action in this crisis
would create even greater problems and must not be an option in the
situation," said Reeker, speaking at the May 24 State Department
briefing in Washington.
Reeker said that along with Secretary of State Colin Powell's phone
conversations with leaders on both sides, the United States is
communicating with officials from Britain and other countries. He
noted that EU Commissioner Chris Patten is visiting the region
currently, and British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw will be in the
region May 28-29. Deputy Secretary Richard Armitage will arrive in the
region June 4, according to Reeker.
"[W]e're all very concerned about the potential for conflict there,
and we're all delivering the same message to the Indians and the
Pakistanis on the need to reduce those tensions and try to create a
more conducive atmosphere for dialogue," said Reeker.
Reeker said that the United States was disappointed with Pakistan's
announced decision to flight-test missiles, and that "there should be
no question that the Pakistanis understand our position on this." The
deputy spokesman reminded journalists that Secretary Powell made
similar comments following an Indian missile test in January.
"The current tensions in the region we were just discussing only
reinforce the need for India and Pakistan to take steps to prevent a
costly and destabilizing arms race. And we think such an arms race
would be a threat to regional and to international security," he said.
Following is an excerpt from the May 24 State Department briefing with
Reeker's comments on the situation in South Asia:
(begin excerpt)
QUESTION: Secretary Powell has already spoken on India and Pakistan,
said he has made some phone calls. Could you bring us up to date on
that? And also, any reaction to Pakistan planning to do some missile
tests in the near future?
MR. REEKER: Let's start with that. I think you did see, certainly on
the wires, and I think some of the White House transcripts or coverage
may have mentioned some comments Secretary Powell made. In that vein,
we continue to have strong concerns, as Secretary Powell said, about
the potential for conflict between India and Pakistan, and about the
danger of that conflict spiraling out of control.
We remain very deeply engaged with the Indians and the Pakistanis and
others in the international community to try to reduce tensions, avoid
an outbreak of fighting, and get the parties back into an atmosphere
where they can pursue the absolutely vital dialogue which is
necessary.
As the Secretary indicated, he has made a number of phone calls. He
spoke this morning with Indian Minister of External Affairs Jaswant
Singh. I mentioned yesterday he had spoken twice with President
Musharraf of Pakistan, as well as several phone calls with the British
Foreign Secretary, Mr. Straw. Other senior State Department officials
and other administration officials have remained in close touch with
their counterparts in South Asia and in other capitals around the
world.
We are coordinating our activities very closely with the international
community. I think we discussed yesterday the fact that EU
Commissioner Patten is now in the region. British Foreign Secretary
Straw is going to be there May 28th and 29th. Deputy Secretary
Armitage, as I told you yesterday, will leave Washington for South
Asia on June 4th. He will have meetings in Pakistan and India the 6th
and 7th of June.
So we have continued our liaison with the British and with other
foreign governments on this because we are all very concerned about
the potential for conflict there, and we are all delivering the same
message to the Indians and the Pakistanis on the need to reduce those
tensions and try to create a more conducive atmosphere for dialogue.
It's very vital that all involved do their utmost to exercise
restraint, to lower the rhetoric, reduce the violence.
As I said yesterday, we understand Indian frustrations and anger over
continued terrorist actions. We share the common goal of seeing
terrorist actions stopped. And we reiterate however as our central
point, rather than being the solution, any military action in this
crisis would create even greater problems and must not be an option in
this situation. So as I said, we believe it's important for India and
Pakistan to resume a productive dialogue over the issues that divide
them, and that includes Kashmir, because only through dialogue will
their differences be resolved.
Let me just remind you of what we've said yesterday and continue to
reiterate the important component of this process being an end to
infiltration into Kashmir, and we have called upon Pakistan to do all
it can to achieve this objective.
In this context, as I noted yesterday, President Musharraf has made
recent statements again that Pakistan will not allow its territory to
be used by terrorists for attacks anywhere. These positive statements
need to be linked with concrete actions. And so we will continue to
work on this very, very closely, as I described.
Now, you had a second question regarding --
QUESTION: The missile tests. How does that factor into --
MR. REEKER: The missile tests, yes. We are disappointed by the
Government of Pakistan's announced decision to flight-test missiles at
this time. The current tensions in the region that we were just
discussing only reinforce the need for India and Pakistan to take
steps to prevent a costly and destabilizing arms race. And we think
such an arms race would be a threat to regional and international
security.
I will remind you that the Secretary said back in January, following
India's missile test, that we hope India and Pakistan will both begin
to start going down the escalation ladder. And so we continue to urge
both sides to take steps to restrain their missile programs and their
nuclear weapons programs, including that there be no operational
deployment of nuclear-armed ballistic missiles, begin a dialogue again
on confidence-building measures that could reduce the likelihood that
any such weapons ever be used.
So we are disappointed in this. The Pakistanis notified us of this
within the last week. I think they did a public notification to airmen
and mariners in the past couple of days as well.
QUESTION: So are the US officials still trying to convince Pakistan
not to go forward with this?
MR. REEKER: I think they are fully aware of our position. We have made
quite clear that we think, given the current situation, the focus
should be on steps to reduce tensions in the region; to, as I said,
create an atmosphere where they can pursue the necessary dialogue to
deal with the issues that divide the two countries in a peaceful
manner.
QUESTION: We only heard about this today, but it may be that you heard
about this earlier. Do you know whether the Secretary brought this up
in his conversations yesterday with President Musharraf in --
MR. REEKER: I don't. I don't know the specifics of that. I know that
there should be no question that the Pakistanis understand our
position on this. We have reiterated this, as I said, noting what the
Secretary said in January, following an Indian missile test. He
referred to both India and Pakistan, hoping that they would begin to
start down the, as he called it, "escalation ladder." So we have been
quite clear on that for some time.
I think there was a public notice to airmen and mariners in the past
day or so that I saw, and as I said, the Pakistanis notified us
sometime within this last week.
QUESTION: Yeah, okay. Have you made your position known to them
directly since you received notice this week?
MR. REEKER: Yes. Certainly we have continued to make that position
well known, including what we are doing right here and now from this
podium.
QUESTION: Do you have anything in particular on the new firing,
artillery exchanges now for the first time, going to the Siachen
Glacier?
MR. REEKER: I don't. I don't think I had seen that. Clearly, as we
have discussed all week, we have been concerned about the increase in
firing across the line of control. It has become quite heavy. This is
why we have these strong concerns, why we have found the situation
quite worrisome, why we are so engaged with both sides and with
everyone in the international community to press for a reduction in
this violence and in the tension that is between the two countries. It
is a dangerous situation, and we will continue to remain very much
engaged to try to get that tension down and create an atmosphere for
dialogue.
(end excerpt)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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