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10 June 2002

Armitage Sees Diminished Tensions Between India, Pakistan

(Deputy Secretary of State media availability in Tallinn, Estonia)
(1270)
Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said on June 8 that
"tensions are down measurably" between India and Pakistan. Armitage
was speaking at a media availability in Tallinn, Estonia, after
departing India.
Armitage, who traveled to India and Pakistan, said he had the "very
strong impression that they (India and Pakistan) were inclined to
respond to the international community which is basically calling for
restraint."
"I thought the message I carried from President Musharraf across to
our Indian colleagues was one that found some favor in New Delhi, so
I'd have to assume they see it as de-escalatory," Armitage said.
Following is the transcript of Deputy Secretary Armitage's media
availability in Tallinn, Estonia, on June 8:
(begin transcript)
REMARKS BY DEPUTY SECRETARY OF STATE RICHARD ARMITAGE: 
MEDIA AVAILABILITY AT THE GRAND HOTEL, TALLINN, ESTONIA, JUNE 8,
APPROX. 16:30 LOCAL TIME, SHORTLY AFTER DEP. SEC. ARMITAGE'S ARRIVAL
FROM NEW DELHI.
A: I just gave a small press conference in New Delhi where they found
very positive the discussions that we held, and as I understand it,
highly praised U.S. diplomacy and the President and the Secretary of
State. And it's quite clear that there will be some actions on the
part of India responding to the messages I brought from Islamabad, and
as I made quite clear, at least temporarily, the tensions are down.
Q: What kind of actions will they take?
A: Well I was on the airplane for the last ten and a half hours, but I
understand they're talking about some diplomatic actions which could
include the return of some people to diplomatic postings in Islamabad
and some ratcheting down of some sort of military tension. They're
going to make, as I understand it, from what I heard on the phone in
the airplane, perhaps some military gestures as well, prior to
Secretary Rumsfeld's arrival.
Q: Meaning pulling some troops back?
A: Well I don't know - there are troops, there are airplanes, there
are ships, there's a whole host of things they could do that I don't
know which they'll do but I got the very strong impression that they
were inclined to respond to the international community which is
basically calling for restraint.
Q: Immediately?
A: I'd say you have the advantage over me - I've been on the airplane.
My impression is that it would be in the next couple of days so if
that defines immediacy for you, yes.
Q: Will you play a role at all in the area of watching the line of
control, by that I mean either physically or overhead?
A: Well we have watched the line of control for some time as have our
British friends, and certainly the Pakistanis and the Indians will
continue to do that. If you're referring to joint controls and things
of that nature we had some preliminary discussions both in Islamabad
and in Delhi but absolutely no determinations were being met or made.
Q:  [Inaudible] Indian spy plane?
A. I saw a report in the press that an unmanned vehicle was knocked
down several kilometers across the line of control. I don't make much
of it all. If it happened, then fine, there are very high tensions,
people are shelling and shooting across the line of control, so it
wouldn't surprise me at all.
Q: Sir, do you see a role now for the U.S. Government, the U.S.
military or U.S. intelligence in monitoring the LOC?
A. Well Secretary Rumsfeld is here and can talk much more
knowledgeably than I about a role for U.S. military. But, certainly
U.S. intelligence has a role. After all that's how the Secretary of
State, Secretary of Defense, I, and certainly the President get our
information. So that role will continue.
Q: How best do you think Secretary Rumsfeld can follow up on the
progress you've achieved?
A. I'm going to have the honor of meeting with the Secretary around
six o'clock tonight and that's something that I'll be discussing with
him privately.
Q: What about Pakistan? Has Pakistan agreed to de-escalating the
tensions in any way?
A. Well I thought the message I carried from President Musharraf
across to our Indian colleagues was one that found some favor in New
Delhi, so I'd have to assume that they see it as de-escalatory, but
I'll note that President Musharraf made it very clear that he was
going to do everything in his power to avoid war, consistent with, as
he said, the national honor and dignity of Pakistan and the Armed
Forces.
Q: Is there an offer to share American surveillance with both sides to
help avoid miscalculation and war?
A. There has not been an offer to my knowledge. We've had some
discussions about this. The United States will stay involved. There
have been no decisions.
Q: The joint patrols you were referring to -- were they
Indian-Pakistani patrols or U.S.-British or what?
A. The joint patrols that were discussed on both sides were as
follows: from the Indian point of view the necessity would be for
bilateral -- that is for Pakistani and Indian patrols to be involved.
From the Pakistani point of view-they would like to have some foreign
presence as well. So, there has been no decision on that. I don't
think there's anything imminent on that at all.
Q: How strong are your assurances from General Musharraf that he would
take action to curb insurgents crossing into Indian territory?
A. As you may have seen from the Department of State and in my press
conference in Delhi yesterday President Musharraf was quite
categorical about the fact that the activities across the line of
control would be stopped permanently ... And he is quite keen,
President Musharraf, to enter into a dialogue on the whole question of
Kashmir.
Q: What sense do you have, Mr. Armitage, that India is prepared to
accept that, to accept Mr. Musharraf's word that the infiltrations
will stop?
A. I think the Government of India noted that President Musharraf made
his commitment to the international community and to the United
States. And I think that they'll be watching to see if the actions
follow the words. I noted that the press commentary in Delhi this
morning as I left was fairly to greatly positive on the whole
situation, but I don't think we're at a position right here where
trust is particularly involved. It's more along the lines of what
Ronald Reagan used to say about trusting and verifying.
Q: Would you go so far as to say that the crisis has been averted? Is
the crisis over?
A: When you have close to a million men glaring, shouting, and
occasionally shooting across a territory that's a matter of some
dispute, then I think you couldn't say the crisis is over, but I think
you could say that the tensions are down measurably.
Q: What sort of assurances did you get from India?
A: On which case?
Q: You said that Musharraf guaranteed that these cross-border
incursions were going to end. What did India say?
A: Let's note that it was India who was aggrieved most recently with
the attack on the parliament and the terrible killings of family
members of soldiers in Jammu in mid-May. So it's a matter, I think, of
India responding to the international community and ratcheting down
measurably the tensions and I think that's the general thrust of the
comments made by the Minister of External Affairs Jaswant Singh.
That's it. Thank you.
(end transcript)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)