Clinton offers mediation over Kashmir dispute

Clinton offers mediation over Kashmir dispute

NEW DELHI (AFP): U.S. President Bill Clinton has stepped into the heart of the dispute between India and Pakistan, saying he was prepared to try and broker a solution to the issue of Kashmir just weeks before a visit here.

Clinton's statement was given tellingly different spins in Pakistan and India, with the former focusing on the offer itself, while New Delhi jumped on the president's qualification that both countries would have to agree to mediation.

Clinton, who is due to visit India March 20-25, made his remarks at a press conference in Washington on Wednesday, where he was asked if he would intervene to broker a solution to the long-running Kashmir crisis that has sparked two wars between India and Pakistan. "Absolutely, yes, I would," Clinton replied.

However, the president also stressed that without requests from both sides any intervention by a third party would be useless.

"If they don't want us, it won't do any good. We'd just be out there talking into the air, and I'm not in for that."

Indian Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh told AFP on Thursday that Clinton's qualification on the issue of mediation, effectively ruled out any such role for the United States.

"Mr. Clinton has said that he would be involved only if the two countries are agreeable to the idea, and the two countries are not," Singh said.

While Pakistan is keen to internationalize the Kashmir dispute, India is adamantly opposed to any third-party interference, insisting that it is a purely bilateral issue that touches on issues of national sovereignty.

Another senior foreign ministry official expanded on Singh's comments, saying that Clinton's remarks were an implicit recognition of New Delhi's opposition to outside mediation.

"What Clinton has said is that the U.S. will not intervene and has no plans to intervene unless both countries ask for it," said the official, who declined to be identified.

"He has shown sensitivities to our concern that there is no scope for third-party involvement of any kind in Indo-Pakistani issues," the official said, reaffirming that India had "no plan" to request U.S. help.

In Islamabad, however, analysts said Pakistan would be encouraged by the president's remarks.

"Clinton's statement is commendable. He will be contributing immensely in bringing peace to this tormented region by playing a mediatory role," said Air Marshal Ayaz Ahmed Khan, a former ambassador to Syria.

Former foreign secretary Tanvir Ahmed Khan said the timing of Clinton's statement was significant.

"Clinton's readiness is a repetition of the earlier U.S. position on mediation, but the important thing is that he has reaffirmed it on the eve of his visit to India," Khan said. Clinton's South Asian tour is currently limited to India and Bangladesh.

Initial plans to visit Pakistan as part of the trip were thrown into disarray last October when General Pervez Musharraf ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a coup.

Clinton said on Wednesday he might still visit Pakistan, but only if he felt it would further U.S. interests.

"I haven't decided whether I'm going to Pakistan or not ... I will make a decision based on what I think will best serve our long-term interests," he said.

Clinton's visit is keenly awaited in India, which has not hosted a U.S. presidential since Jimmy Carter in 1978, but New Delhi is keen that Kashmir should not be allowed to dominate the visit.