DATE=6/11/99
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
NUMBER=2-250510
TITLE=CHINA / PAKISTAN (L-O)
BYLINE=ROGER WILKISON
DATELINE=BEIJING
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: PAKISTANI FOREIGN MINISTER SARTAJ AZIZ WAS IN BEIJING
FRIDAY TO BRIEF CHINESE LEADERS ON HIS COUNTRY'S CONFLICT WITH
INDIA OVER THE DISPUTED KASHMIR REGION. V-O-A CORRESPONDENT
ROGER WILKISON REPORTS CHINA -- DESPITE BEING A LONG-TIME FRIEND
OF PAKISTAN AND A RIVAL OF INDIA -- HAS PUBLICLY STRUCK AN
EVEN-HANDED TONE OVER THE CURRENT DISPUTE.
TEXT: THERE ARE FEW DETAILS AVAILABLE ON MR. AZIZ'S MEETINGS
WITH HIS CHINESE COUNTERPART, TANG JIAXUAN, AND THE HEAD OF
CHINA'S LEGISLATURE, LI PENG. XINHUA, THE CHINESE NEWS AGENCY,
HAD LITTLE TO SAY ABOUT THE MEETINGS, AND THE PAKISTANI EMBASSY
WOULD ONLY SAY THAT MR. AZIZ IS CONSULTING WITH CHINA.
THE PAKISTANI FOREIGN MINISTER IS SCHEDULED TO TRAVEL TO NEW
DELHI ON SATURDAY. HE TOLD REPORTERS IN ISLAMABAD, BEFORE
FLYING TO BEIJING, THAT HE IS SEEKING TO DE-ESCALATE HEIGHTENED
TENSIONS RESULTING FROM A TWO-WEEK INDIAN CAMPAIGN TO RID THE
INDIAN-OCCUPIED KASHMIRI HIGHLANDS OF WHAT NEW DELHI CALLS
PAKISTANI-BACKED INFILTRATORS. PAKISTAN HAS INSISTED THAT IT
ONLY GIVES MORAL AND DIPLOMATIC BACKING TO GUERRILLAS WHO ARE
FIGHTING TO OUST INDIA FROM THE TWO-THIRDS OF KASHMIR CONTROLLED
BY NEW DELHI.
CHINA AND PAKISTAN HAVE BEEN CLOSE ALLIES FOR MORE THAN 30 YEARS.
BOTH ARE WARY OF INDIA'S DOMINANT ROLE IN SOUTH ASIA. WESTERN
DIPLOMATS SAY BEIJING HAS SUPPLIED ISLAMABAD WITH NUCLEAR AND
MISSILE TECHNOLOGY OVER THE YEARS. BUT EVER SINCE INDIA AND
PAKISTAN DETONATED TIT-FOR-TAT NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS LAST YEAR,
BEIJING HAS BEEN CALLING ON BOTH TO DEFUSE TENSIONS IN THE
SUB-CONTINENT. FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESWOMAN ZHANG QIYUE --
SPEAKING THROUGH AN INTERPRETER -- THIS WEEK URGED THE TWO
COUNTRIES TO PEACEFULLY RESOLVE THEIR DIFFERENCES OVER KASHMIR.
//INTERPRETER ACTUALITY//
WE SINCERELY HOPE THAT INDIA AND PAKISTAN WILL SET STORE BY THE
OVERALL INTEREST OF MAINTAINING PEACE AND STABILITY IN SOUTH
ASIA AND CONTINUE THEIR NEGOTIATIONS AND DIALOGUE SO AS TO SEEK
A RESOLUTION OF THEIR CONFLICTS AND DIFFERENCES THROUGH PEACEFUL
MEANS, SO AS TO AVOID A FURTHER DETERIORATION OF THE SITUATION.
//END ACTUALITY//
MS. ZHANG ANNOUNCED THIS WEEK THAT INDIAN FOREIGN MINISTER
JASWANT SINGH WILL ARRIVE IN BEIJING NEXT WEEK FOR BILATERAL
TALKS WITH CHINESE OFFICIALS. BUT THE INDIAN EMBASSY SAYS THE
MEETINGS WERE SCHEDULED BEFORE NEW DELHI LAUNCHED ITS FIRST
STRIKES AGAINST THE GUERRILLAS IN KASHMIR ON MAY 26TH. (SIGNED)
NEB/RW/GC/FC
11-Jun-99 5:48 AM EDT (0948 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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