DATE=3/26/2000
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=PAK / CLINTON REACT
NUMBER=5-46011
BYLINE=SCOTT ANGER
DATELINE=ISLAMABAD
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: President Clinton's six-day visit to South
Asia ended Saturday with a brief stop in Pakistan.
Analysts there see the president's visit as a signal
from the United States, that it has not abandoned its
Cold War ally. But as correspondent Scott Anger
reports from Islamabad, President Clinton's visit has
solidified Pakistani suspicions that U-S policy now
favors India, and the alliance once enjoyed by
Pakistan is over.
TEXT: Observers in Pakistan say India's economic
strength is the primary incentive for the United
States to seek closer ties. Many question whether
Pakistan is capable of switching its focus, from its
dispute with India over Kashmir, to the country's
beleaguered economy in order to attract the same
economic interest.
Research analyst Khalid Mahmood, who specializes in
Indian politics at the Institute of Regional Studies,
says Pakistan has been left out of the new economic
relationship the United States has formed with India.
/// MAHMOOD ACT ///
Well, it is quite obvious that India is much
more important to the United States than
Pakistan is. The Americans and the Indians have
begun a new era of close relationships.
/// END ACT ///
Journalist and politician Hussain Haqqani agrees. He
says Pakistan's relationship with the United States
was built during the Cold War, when India had aligned
itself with the Soviet Union. He says Pakistan
remained opposed to communism and - as a result --
built a strong alliance with the United States.
/// HAQQANI ACT ///
Now, India conjures up images of dot-com
(computer technology) millionaires, of
investment opportunities, of a country with a
200 million strong middle-class with purchasing
power and therefore, a potential market for
American consumer goods. Pakistan, on the other
hand, has - over the years - drifted. Pakistan
does not have a functioning democracy - where as
India does. Pakistan has military rule and
Pakistan has allowed itself to be painted as a
country that is not completely clear on the
question of Islamic militancy.
/// END ACT ///
Mr. Haqqani says Pakistan's opportunities now lie with
its acceptance of the changed regional relationship
between India and the United States. He says Pakistan
must now re-engage the United States on a new set of
terms.
/// HAQQANI ACT TWO///
Clinton's message during this trip was very
simple. It was: times have changed,
circumstances have changed. We do not want to
ditch you (Pakistan) forever, but you people
have to readjust, accept changed realities and
work with us in a new framework.
/// END ACT ///
That new framework includes President Clinton's
refusal to mediate Pakistan's dispute with India over
the long-simmering issue of Kashmir. The president
has urged both India and Pakistan to solve the crisis
through bilateral negotiations.
Retired army general Talat Masood says the United
States appears to be viewing the Kashmir dispute from
the Indian perspective - that Kashmir must be solved
without external intervention or mediation. But he
says new economic links between the United States and
India could help bring about U-S involvement in
solving the dispute.
/// MASOOD ACT ///
One theory is that the more India gets engaged
with the United States, the greater the leverage
the United States will be able to apply (in
helping solve Kashmir). And at that point in
time, they will be more effective in applying
pressure on India to find a solution, which is
acceptable to the people of Kashmir and
Pakistan.
/// END ACT ///
Pakistan, which has been asking for mediation in the
conflict, calls Kashmir the core issue dividing the
two countries. India and Pakistan have fought two
wars over the Himalayan region since British India was
partitioned in 1947. The two sides came close to a
third war last year.
During his meeting with Pakistan's military leader
General Pervez Musharraf, President Clinton told the
general to stop "squandering" resources on the Kashmir
conflict. He said Pakistan should concentrate instead
on raising living standards in the extremely poor
country.
General Musharraf says Pakistan could use its
influence to moderate - what it calls - freedom
fighters battling Indian forces in Indian Kashmir.
For more than a decade, India has accused Pakistan of
arming the insurgents and directly supporting an
independence movement. Pakistan denies the charge and
says it only provides moral, political, and diplomatic
support to the fighters.
The movement by Islamic separatists seeking to either
carve out an independent state, or to align Kashmir
with Muslim-dominated Pakistan, is widely supported in
the country. Analysts say a move to downgrade the
Kashmir dispute could enrage both Islamic and
conventional political parties throughout Pakistan.
That leaves some observers questioning how Pakistan's
economy can be made more of a priority, considering
the country's position regarding Kashmir. (SIGNED)
NEB/SA/RAE
26-Mar-2000 10:20 AM EDT (26-Mar-2000 1520 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.
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