DATE=07/15/99
TYPE=WORLD OPINION ROUNDUP
NUMBER=6-11384
TITLE=KASHMIR BACK FROM THE BRINK BUT NO PEACE YET
BYLINE=ANDREW N. GUTHRIE
TELEPHONE=619-3335
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
EDITOR=ASSIGNMENTS
CONTENT=
INTRO: THE WORLD PRESS IS WATCHING THE DE-ESCALATION OF THE
BORDER DISPUTE BETWEEN INDIA AND PAKISTAN OVER KASHMIR,
SPECULATING WHERE THE SUBCONTINENT GOES FROM HERE.
JUST A FEW DAYS AGO, IT APPEARED THE CRISIS COULD GROW INTO A
FULL-SCALE WAR BETWEEN THE TWO LONGTIME ENEMIES AND NUCLEAR
NATIONS. NOW, TENSIONS APPEAR TO BE DISSIPATING. BUT MANY
DAILIES POINT OUT THAT UNTIL UNTIL KASHMIRIS ARE ALLOWED TO
CHOOSE THEIR POLITICAL FUTURE IN A FREE ELECTION, TENSION WILL
REMAIN.
FOR A SAMPLING OF GLOBAL PRESS COMMENT , WE CALL ON _____________
WITH THIS WEEK'S WORLD OPINION ROUNDUP.
TEXT: FOR THE BETTER PART OF TWO MONTHS, A BAND OF ISLAMIC
GUERRILLAS OCCUPIED A PORTION OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR CONTROLLED BY
INDIA IN THE HIMALAYAN MOUNTAINS. THEY COULD FIRE DOWN ON A
VITAL ROAD USED BY INDIAN MILITARY AND CIVILIAN TRAFFIC. THE
INDIANS BEGAN SHELLING THE INTRUDERS AND SENT COMBAT JETS TO BOMB
THEIR POSITIONS. INDIA BLAMED PAKISTAN FOR ENCOURAGING THE
INCURSION. PAKISTANI PRIME MINISTER NAWAZ SHARIF, AFTER
CONFERRING WITH PRESIDENT CLINTON, PROMISED TO COAX THE INTRUDERS
OUT OF THE AREA.
THE PROBLEM APPEARS OVER FOR NOW, BUT THE WORLD PRESS REMAINS
CAUTIOUS ABOUT THE JAMMU-KASHMIRI PROBLEM IN GENERAL, WHERE A
RESTIVE, MUSLIM POPULATION, IN INDIA'S ONLY MAJORITY ISLAMIC
STATE, WANTS SOME TYPE OF UNION WITH MOSTLY MUSLIM PAKISTAN. WE
BEGIN OUR SAMPLING IN NEW DELHI, WHERE INDIA'S "THE HINDU" NOTES:
VOICE: /// OPT /// BY EFFECTING A PHASED WITHDRAWAL WHICH BEGAN
ON SUNDAY [7/11], PAKISTANI PRIME MINISTER ... SHARIF
HAS DEMONSTRATED HIS HOLD ON HIS GOVERNMENT, THE
MILITARY ESTABLISHMENT AND THE MUJAHIDEEN. ... WITHOUT
INTERNATIONAL PRESSURE, [MR.] SHARIF MAY NOT HAVE
RELENTED ./// END OPT /// .. IF INDIA WANTS TO ENSURE
THAT KASHMIR REMAINS A BILATERAL ISSUE AND IS RESOLVED
PEACEFULLY, IT MUST NOW SEIZE ON THE OPPORTUNITY
PRESENTED BY THE WITHDRAWAL TO REVIVE THE LAHORE
PROCESS.' [EDITORS: THE LAHORE PROCESS REFERS TO A
PRODUCTIVE SERIES OF TALKS NEAR LAHORE LAST YEAR,
BETWEEN PRIME MINISTERS OF THE TWO COUNTRIES THAT BEGAN
WORK ON A NUMBER OF CONTENTIOUS ISSUES.]
TEXT: ACROSS TOWN, "THE INDIAN EXPRESS" CAUTIONS:
VOICE: THE CEASE-FIRE DOES NOT MEAN ... THE KARGIL [EDITORS:
THE MAIN TOWN ON THE ROAD THREATENED BY THE INTRUDERS]
CRISIS IS OVER. THE DIPLOMATIC INITIATIVE INDIA TOOK IN
CONVINCING THE WORLD ABOUT THE GENUINENESS OF ITS CASE
PLAYED A GREAT ROLE IN TURNING THE TABLES AGAINST
PAKISTAN.
/// OPT ///
TEXT: AND IN THE "HINDUSTAN TIMES EVENING NEWS" WE FIND THIS
SENTIMENT:
VOICE: ... EVEN AS THE WORLD HAS LARGELY RECOGNIZED THE JUSTICE
OF INDIA'S CASE, IT WILL ALSO EXPECT NEW DELHI AND
ISLAMABAD TO INITIATE STEPS TO RESOLVE THEIR DIFFERENCES
NOW THAT THE WAR HAS ENDED.
/// END OPT ///
TEXT: ACROSS THE BORDER NOW, TO KARACHI, WHERE THE VIEW WAS MUCH
LESS SANGUINE, AND THIS FROM PAKISTAN'S "UMMAT," AN URDU LANGUAGE
DAILY:
VOICE: THE UNITED STATES HAS NEVER TAKEN AS MUCH INTEREST IN
GETTING OCCUPIED KASHMIR VACATED FROM INDIAN TROOPS AS
IT HAS SHOWN IN GETTING KARGIL FREED FROM THE FREEDOM
FIGHTERS. THE KASHMIR ISSUE CAN NEVER BE RESOLVED
THROUGH NEGOTIATIONS, SO THE ONLY SOLUTION LEFT IS A
HOLY WAR.
TEXT: AND ACROSS TOWN, IN THE ENGLISH-LANGUAGE "NEWS" WE READ:
VOICE: IT IS ENCOURAGING THAT PRESIDENT CLINTON HAS PROMISED TO
PERSONALLY PUSH FORWARD THE PROCESS LAUNCHED BY THE
LAHORE DECLARATION ... CONSIDERING WHAT HAS HAPPENED
DURING THE RECENT WEEKS, IT WOULD NOT BE EASY FOR THE
TWO COUNTRIES TO RETURN TO LAHORE, [EDITORS: MEANING
HERE: "TO THE NEGOTIATING TABLE"] BY BUS OR BY ANOTHER
MEANS OF TRANSPORT. BUT THERE WAS, AND [IS] NO OTHER
OPTION.
/// OPT ///
TEXT: EVEN HIGHER UP IN THE NEARBY MOUNTAINS, FROM NEPAL, WE
READ, IN KATMANDU'S "AAJAKO SAMACHARPATRA:"
VOICE: ... AMERICA HAS UNEXPECTEDLY ACHIEVED A DIPLOMATIC
VICTORY AFTER A LONG EFFORT ... [MR.] CLINTON'S ROLE IS
PRAISEWORTHY ... [AND] HAS THE OPPORTUNITY TO WIN THE
HEARTS OF BILLIONS OF PEOPLE WITHOUT ANY MATERIAL
INVESTMENT ... [INCREASING] ... THE POSSIBILITY OF
AVERTING THE THREAT OF A DEVASTATING ... WAR ...
HOVERING OVER SOUTH ASIA.
TEXT: BUT MUCH LESS ENTHUSIASTIC COMES THIS NOTE FROM SRI LANKA
AND "THE SUNDAY TIMES" IN COLOMBO:
VOICE: WITH INCREASING PRESSURE TO LIVE DOWN THE CHARGE THAT HE
HAS SOLD OUT PAKISTAN'S INTEREST TO WASHINGTON, PRIME
MINISTER ... SHARIF IS UNLIKELY TO BE IN A HURRY TO
HONOR HIS PLEDGE TO PRESIDENT CLINTON ...
/// END OPT ///
TEX T: FARTHER EAST, IN CHINA'S SPECIAL TERRITORY OF HONG KONG,
"THE SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST" NOTES:
VOICE: WHAT COMES NEXT IS UNCLEAR. PAKISTAN HAS CAUSE TO FEEL
AGGRIEVED BY HISTORY, BUT BOTH SIDES HAVE SO COMMITTED
TO RIGHTEOUS VIOLENCE THAT BROADER INTERESTS SUFFER.
MR. CLINTON CAN MERELY GET TALKS RESUMED; HE CAN'T
SETTLE THINGS.
TEXT: IN TOKYO, JAPAN'S HUGE "YOMIURI" OBSERVES:
VOICE: WE HOPE A CEASE-FIRE WILL TAKE HOLD. UNLIKE THEIR
PREVIOUS MILITARY CLASHES, THE RECENT SHELLING AND AIR
OPERATIONS BETWEEN INDIA AND PAKISTAN, BOTH ALREADY DE
FACTO NUCLEAR POWERS, HAVE HAD MORE .... SERIOUS IMPACTS
ON THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY.
TEXT: AND THERE WAS SOME PRAISE FOR PRESIDENT CLINTON FROM
KOREA'S "HANKOOK ILBO" IN SEOUL:
VOICE: THIS ROUND OF RESOLVING A CONFLICT ... DEMONSTRATES ONCE
AGAIN THE POWER OF U-S INFLUENCE.
TEXT: TURNING TO EUROPE, IN GERMANY'S FINANCIAL CAPITOL, "THE
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE" IS ALSO RELIEVED:
VOICE: IT SEEMS THAT THE DANGER OF A THIRD WAR OVER KASHMIR HAS
BEEN STEMMED. ... THIS CONFLICT SHOWED AGAIN AND AGAIN
THAT BOTH COUNTRIES ARE UNABLE TO FIND A WAY OUT OF THIS
PERMANENT KASHMIR CRISIS. THIS WAY OUT CAN BE FOUND
ONLY IF THE KASHMIRI THEMSELVES HAVE A CHANCE TO SAY
WHAT THEY THINK OF THEIR FUTURE.
TEXT: WHILE IN RUSSIA, MOSCOW'S "IZVESTIYA" OPINES:
VOICE: THE EXTREMISTS AND THE GENERALS BEHIND THEM HAVE TO
LEAVE, WHICH IS A BITTER PILL TO SWALLOW. THEIR ATTEMPT
TO CHANGE THE STATUS QUO IN KASHMIR BY FORCE HAS
VIRTUALLY PUT ISLAMABAD IN ISOLATION.
TEXT: AND FOR OUR LAST WORD, ITS DOWN TO THE COLORFUL CARIBBEAN
CITY OF PORT-OF-SPAIN, IN TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO, WHERE "THE
EXPRESS" IS ALSO BREATHING AN EDITORIAL SIGH OF RELIEF.
VOICE: HOPEFULLY, THE U-S INTERVENTION WILL LEAD TO A COOLING
OFF OF TENSIONS BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES ... [WHICH]
... HAVE DRAWN BACK FROM THE BRINK THIS TIME AROUND.
BUT UNLESS SERIOUS STEPS ARE TAKEN TO COOL DOWN THE
SITUATION IN KASHMIR, IT MAY ONLY BE A MATTER OF TIME
BEFORE WE FIND OURSELVES SITTING ON THE BRINK ONCE MORE.
TEXT: AND WITH THAT, WE CLOSE UP ANOTHER WORLD OPINION ROUNDUP
FOR THE WEEK, WITH COMMENT ABOUT THE AVERSION OF A FULL-SCALE WAR
BETWEEN INDIA AND PAKISTAN OVER JAMMU AND KASHMIR.
NEB/ANG/RRM
15-Jul-99 4:19 PM EDT (2019 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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