02 December 1998
CLINTON ENCOURAGED BY DIRECT TALKS BETWEEN INDIA, PAKISTAN
(Says he hopes to visit both countries in the coming year) (930) By Wendy S. Ross USIA White House Correspondent Washington -- President Clinton says he is "very encouraged" that the governments of India and Pakistan have resumed their direct conversations. "I think it's very hopeful," Clinton told reporters December 2 as he began talks in the Oval Office with Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who is on a three-day visit to Washington. Clinton said Sharif "deserves a lot of credit, and I hope the people of Pakistan support his decision to continue this dialogue with India. I think it's very important." The President said he wants to do everything possible to end the nuclear competition in South Asia, which he called "a threat to Pakistan and India and to the stability of the world." India, followed by Pakistan, conducted a series of underground nuclear tests in May. Following those tests, Clinton canceled plans to visit both countries this year. "I very much hope it will be possible for me to go next year," he told reporters December 2. "I have looked forward to going for many years. As I think you know, my wife had a wonderful trip not very long ago, and I want to go and I hope it will be possible for me to go," he said. Clinton also said he "would be happy" to help India and Pakistan resolve the longstanding problems between them. The two nations have fought three wars since 1947. If "at any time there's anything I can do that both parties will agree to our doing, of course I will be happy to do it," Clinton said in answer to a reporter's question. The United States wants "to work with Pakistan to promote economic growth there, to continue our mutual concern to fight terrorism, and deal with some of the other regional issues," the President said. Prime Minister Sharif said he was "delighted" to have been invited by Clinton to meet with him. "I thank you very much for extending this invitation to me. I'd like to work with you, Pakistan would like to work with the United States of America. And there are a lot of issues on which we have common interest and we will be very happy to extend all the help and assistance as far as we are concerned, especially on the issue of terrorism," he said. In advance of his meeting with Sharif, Clinton December 1 signed a memorandum waiving until October 21, 1999, some of the sanctions he was obliged by law to impose after India and Pakistan tested nuclear bombs last May. The waiver opens the way for U.S. loans and investments in the two nations, international military training and education program, and crucial U.S. backing for the IMF's $5.5-billion economic bailout for Pakistan. In their discussions, Clinton "reaffirmed" the US view that "more progress needed to be made on these issues before we would be in a position to remove all of the sanctions that had been put on Pakistan" in the wake of the nuclear testing, Bruce Riedel, National Security Council Senior Director for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs, told reporters at a late afternoon briefing. Riedel characterized the meeting between Clinton and Sharif as "very warm, very positive." They met for half an hour in a plenary meeting with their top foreign policy officials, that included Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, National Security Advisor Samuel R. "Sandy" Berger, and Pakistan's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Riedel said. Then Clinton and Sharif had a twenty-minute "one on one" in the Oval office, followed by a 45-minute lunch together, he said. Their discussions covered a wide range of issues," of which the number one issue on the US agenda was non-proliferation and arms control. Clinton expressed his support for the Prime Minister's decision to adhere to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) by September 1999, Riedel said. "The Prime Minister reaffirmed that commitment." Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs, Karl Inderfurth, told reporters at the late afternoon briefing that Clinton and Sharif also had "very full discussion" of Pakistan's economic situation. To provide further sanction relief, "it will require concrete steps by Pakistan to address non-proliferation and security concerns," he said. Afghanistan was also discussed at the luncheon, he said. The U.S. made clear that it wants to see the conflict end there and the establishment of a broad-based multi-ethnic government. Albright said "we have very serious problems with the Taliban," he said. "And all made it clear that of primary importance to the U.S. government is the expulsion of Usama bin Laden from Afghanistan, so that he can be brought to justice." "He is a terrorist, he is a murderer, he plans to kill again and we want him brought to justice," Inderfurth said, and "that view was made very clear to our Pakistani guests." Asked about the question of the 60 F-16 fighter planes that Pakistan had ordered and paid some $650 million for, 28 of them before the US Congress cut off all direct military sales to Pakistan in 1990, Inderfurth said, "we now have the possibility of the government of New Zealand being willing to take some of these aircraft," but "it is unlikely that the proceeds from that will be the complete solution to the problem." The U.S., he said, still owes $501 million to Pakistan.
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