03 June 2002
Diplomacy Aims to Cool India-Pakistan Confrontation
(Deputy Secretary Armitage CNN Interview, June 3) (1350)
Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said he will be traveling
to India and Pakistan this week for talks aimed at averting military
confrontation and reducing tension between the two South Asian nuclear
powers.
Interviewed June 3 on CNN television, he said the current situation is
"extraordinarily volatile".
Armitage welcomed statements made over the past two days by Pakistan's
President Musharraf downplaying the likelihood of a nuclear exchange
in the region.
"The problem is once the iron starts to be exchanged between the two
sides, then reason and logic seem to go out the window," Armitage
cautioned.
Asked if the United States would consider a military option should
nuclear war threaten to break out, Armitage stressed that, "there is
no activity other than diplomatic activity that can be brought to bear
at this moment in a timely enough fashion to de-escalate this
situation."
"I think right now we're in the business on both sides trying to be
reasonable and logical, to lower the temperature. We want to assess
President Musharraf's stated position that he has stopped the
infiltration, or there is no infiltration across the line of control.
And in return, we'd like to get India to begin a de-escalatory step of
some sort that can be visible to Pakistan," Armitage said.
He also underscored the intense international diplomatic effort,
joined now by Russian President Putin, underway to "bring reason and
logic to bear" in averting war between India and Pakistan.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld also is scheduled to travel
to India and Pakistan in coming days.
Following is a complete transcript of Deputy Secretary Armitage's June
3 interview on CNN television.
(begin transcript)
U.S. Department of State Office of Deputy Secretary Of State Richard
Armitage Washington, DC June 3, 2002
INTERVIEW ON CNN'S AMERICAN MORNING WITH PAULA ZAHN
MS. ZAHN: Good to have you with us on American Morning. Welcome, sir.
DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: Good morning, Ms. Zahn.
MS. ZAHN: As you head to the region, what are your concerns about the
likelihood of some sort of military confrontation between India and
Pakistan?
DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: Well, I'm not a statistician. I don't think
I'll care to give odds. But our whole effort is going to be to try to
stop a military confrontation from happening and to bring down the
tension, following on the efforts of President Bush and Secretary
Powell over the past weeks.
MS. ZAHN: What are the options the U.S. have to stop any kind of
military confrontation?
DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: Well, the stopping of a military
confrontation belongs to the two parties, India and Pakistan. But I
think the United States, joined by our international parties, right
now joined by President Putin in Almaty, is trying to do our best to
bring reason and logic to bear on what is a very difficult situation.
MS. ZAHN: Here is what the President of Pakistan had to say to Tom
Mintier over the weekend about the possibility of a conventional war
turning into a nuclear war. Let's listen:
TAPE OF PRESIDENT MUSHARRAF: "I don't think either side is that
irresponsible to go to that limit. I would even go to the extent of
saying one shouldn't even be discussing these things because any sane
individual cannot even think of going into this unconventional war,
whatever the pressures."
MS. ZAHN: Even as we hear what President Musharraf had to say, clearly
there are members of Congress who believe that nuclear war is a
distinct possibility. Do you think President Musharraf is trying to
downplay that possibility?
DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: Well, I think he is trying to downplay it,
and I thank him for that. The problem is once the iron starts to be
exchanged between the two sides, then reason and logic seem to go out
the window. So the whole effort has to be to try to keep them from
escalating right now. And I think those who say we shouldn't even
think about a nuclear exchange are right in one way, but we have to
have it in the back of our minds.
MS. ZAHN: Senator Shelby just back from the region, here is the
concern he expressed on the air yesterday. Let's listen to that:
TAPE OF SENATOR SHELBY: "I think it's the most dangerous place in the
world potentially, and I expressed that when I was in New Delhi to the
Indian Prime Minister and also to the Pakistan President. I think they
realize that. I hope it will not get to desperation, as Congressman
Goss alluded. If it does, I'm afraid we'll have a nuclear exchange,
the worst of all scenarios. It's an explosive, incendiary place like
we've never seen."
MS. ZAHN: How would you characterize the volatility along that border
of Kashmir now?
DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: Well, it's extraordinarily volatile, as
Senator Shelby said, is exactly correct, but I would note that former
CIA Director Bill Webster in his last testimony to Congress about
twelve years ago stated that in his view Kashmir was the most
dangerous situation in the world. Certainly nothing has happened in
the last twelve years to change that diagnosis.
MS. ZAHN: There's a long piece in the Wall Street Journal talking
about how limited the U.S. is in its effort to try to bring these two
countries back from the brink. And they say about the only military
option the U.S. would have if nuclear war were to potentially break
out is the U.S. using the so-called theater missile defenses. Can you
share with our audience what that means, this morning?
DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: There is the development in the United
States military of theater missiles defense which would allow the
shoot-down of short-range missiles. But I think to be sensible about
the present situation, there is no activity other than diplomatic
activity that can be brought to bear at this moment in a timely enough
fashion to de-escalate this situation.
MS. ZAHN: So far, the leaders of Pakistan and India have made it quite
clear they don't plan to meet directly with Mr. Putin. Do you plan to
try to help broker a meeting between the leaders of those other three
countries?
DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: Well, they are going to meet individually
with Mr. Putin, as I understand it, and there is no scheduled
trilateral meeting. I don't think we're at a situation right now where
we're in the business of brokering a meeting. I think right now we're
in the business on both sides trying to be reasonable and logical, to
lower the temperature. We want to assess President Musharraf's stated
position that he has stopped the infiltration, or there is no
infiltration across the line of control. And in return, we'd like to
get India to begin a de-escalatory step of some sort that can be
visible to Pakistan.
MS. ZAHN: Is it possible to defuse the situation in Kashmir without
the United States taking a side?
DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: I guess it's theoretically possible, but
it's difficult. The Simla Accord of 1972, both India and Pakistan
determined that the question of Kashmir was a bilateral issue. And if
it's to be solved, it will be solved bilaterally, but I think with the
help and the assistance and the encouragement of the international
community, first among them the United States, and also Great Britain.
MS. ZAHN: And as this all plays out, what are your chief concerns
about the troops that remain at the border of Afghanistan and
Pakistan? Will their status change?
DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: That's a question more correctly directed
to Mr. Rumsfeld. Secretary Powell, the President, and I are concerned
about our citizens both in Pakistan and India. We have well over
60,000 American citizens in India and well over 8,000 in Pakistan, and
that's our first priority.
MS. ZAHN: All right. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.
Thanks so much for the preview of your trip, and good luck to you.
DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: Thank you Ms. Zahn.
(end transcript)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
