Author: India Abroad News Service
Publication: Economic Times
Date: October 27, 2001
President George Bush is consulting
senior leaders on plans to neutralise Pakistan's nuclear capabilities if
the Pervez Musharraf regime collapses, a senior US lawmaker has indicated.
Joe Biden, chairman of the powerful
Senate Foreign Relations Committee, strongly hinted this at a meeting of
the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.
Biden was asked about an article
in The New York Times on the need to render Pakistani nuclear weapons ineffective
if the Musharraf regime falls.
Biden (Democrat) replied: "Those
discussions are underway with the Democratic Congress and the Republican
members of Congress and the president on setting those priorities."
There have been strong protests
from fundamentalist groups in Pakistan against Musharraf's decision to
back the US war against Afghanistan.
This has given rise to questions
about a threat to the military regime and the possibility of Pakistan's
nuclear facilities falling into the hands of religious groups.
Biden said: "The question is, the
President (Bush) has an internal dilemma he has to overcome first. He (Bush)
is focusing on first things first, but then he has to deal with ... and
I'm going to get in trouble for saying this ... but he has to deal with
what has not gone away. There is, for lack of a better phrase, still a
Rumsfeld-Powell split on how they look at the world, and how they look
at these very issues that you've stated here."
Biden indicated a split between
Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell with
the suggestion that Rumsfeld, a known hawk, supported such a plan in Pakistan
while Powell opposed it.
Biden, who said he had been in close
consultations with Bush, also set out his views on US relations with India
and Pakistan.
"I think there has to be a clear
understanding, both in Delhi and Islamabad, that we are interested, we
are looking and we are watching. Secondly, I think a message should be
delivered very strongly to the Indians - do not attempt to take advantage
of the circumstances at this moment, it's against your interests across
the board."
But finally, he said, "we have to
make clear to the Pakistanis that, notwithstanding the fact we need you
very much right now, you are in a position where if you are going to continue
to foment the terror that does exist in Kashmir, then you are operating
against your own near term interests, because that very viper can turn
on you."
Kashmir will become central to resolving
tensions between India and Pakistan, he said.
"The truth of the matter is, the
whole world is looking at their problem now in Kashmir, not just us, the
spotlight is on and the consequences for how they will be treated relative
to all other nations in the world is very much up in the air right now,
and they should be made constantly aware of how tenuous the circumstance
is for both of them. In this case, particularly
India, in my view, particularly
India."
Replying to a question on relations
with India after the US had been seen to be moving close to the country
before September 11, Biden said: "I think that was then, and it's almost
still that way now. And let me explain what I mean by that.
"I may be mistaken, and I may be
a bit cynical, but I think the initial, quote, tilt toward India was related
to Beijing more than it was to Pakistan or anything else. And I think that
the relationship with Beijing was going south very rapidly."
Biden said "there is a desire in
the administration to actually, genuinely (have) better relations with
India. I think it is an absolute essential element of American foreign
policy that that be done. And part of that is simply engaging ... engaging
them and treating them like what they are. They will not (in) too long
be the largest, most populous nation in the world. They are a democracy,
as flawed as you may think it is. They are someone with whom we should
and must have a much, much, much better relationship and understanding."
The whole world has changed for
India in recent years, Biden said. "It has changed not only when the wall
came down, and when their protector evaporated, it changed now as the relationship
with China begins to mature, and they're going to have some great difficulty
internally figuring out how to deal with that.
"But we should be engaged at the
highest level on a daily basis, literally with India. So I don't think
the administration is jettisoning India, but I think they're beginning
to look at India in a different way, not as cynically as just a card to
have been played against Beijing." (IANS)
