Ahead of President Pervez Musharraf’s US visit, an influential American daily today said Pakistan continues to provide Kashmiri terrorists with sanctuary and access to areas bordering India and considers violence a "legitimate toll" to achieve its goal of wresting control of Jammu and Kashmir.
Stressing that Pakistan’s behaviour has fallen well Short of what Americans are entitled to expect from an ally in war on terrorism, the New York Times said though Islamabad cooperated in the arrest of some leaders of Al Qaeda terror network, it has never adequately sealed the Afghan border.
"That made it possible for key Qaeda fugitives to escape and now allows Pakistani recruits to join a reviving Taliban," Times said in an editorial.
However, Musharraf in an interview to the Canadian daily Tornonto Star put the blame squarely on the Islamic militants, who, he said, were perverting their faith by waging reckless holy wars across the globe and accused religious militants of "violating Islamic tenets".
"The extremists have taken it upon themselves to declare Jihad all around the world, and this is not their responsibility. ...It will be total chaos ... If every second man can get up and start calling for jihad," he told the daily in an interview published yesterday.
"Let nobody blame Pakistan entirely, we have to put things in order on the Afghan side. There is a vacuum. There are warlords who are doing things on their own. They have their own axes to grind. There are smugglers who are very powerful," he said.
The Pakistani President also called on fellow Muslims at the highest level to renounce terrorist acts perpetrated in the name of their religion.
The Times noted that after the cold war, Washington grew increasingly unhappy over Pakistan’s strong support for the Taliban, links with Kashmiri terrorists and covert development of nuclear weapons.
Stating that Pakistan’s help in Afghanistan, "though less than ideal," is still needed, the paper said US is hoping Musharraf would contribute peacekeeping troops to Iraq.
"If that can be done under a United Nations flag, it makes sense. Otherwise, America must look for ways to reduce its dependence on Musharraf. Fighting terrorism effectively requires allies untainted by terror," it stressed.
The Times also said Pakistan has behaved "extremely irresponsibly" with respect to nuclear weapons.
"American experts believe it may have helped both North Korea and Iran develop nuclear weapons technology. Pakistan’s own nuclear weapons are thought to be under Musharraf’s control, but in a country whose history has been scarred by repeated military coups, that is not totally reassuring. Democracy remains a distant mirage," it added.
Musharraf, however, had denied Pakistan was planning nuclear war against India. "No sane person can ever sit and plan that there will be a nuclear confrontation... We must never even think of that," he told the Star.
But in an ominous note, he added that "what is dangerous is whether there will be a conflict between India and Pakistan which can then lead on to a nuclear exchange."
By abruptly switching sides in the wake of September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States and letting Washington use Pakistani bases to fight the Taliban, Musharraf managed, in weeks, to lift Pakistan’s status in Washington from Pariah to strategic partner, The Times editorial said.
"Yet beneath the surface of Washington’s new closeness with Islamabad, mutual suspicions continue to fester. Neither country has fully delivered what the other expected, though America’s shortcomings and Pakistan’s are scarcely equivalent," it said.
The Bush administration, it said, has withheld trade benefits "Pakistan deserves." But Musharraf has failed to severe all links with international terrorism.
For a brief time after Musharraf’s switch on Afghanistan, the paper said, there seemed a chance for a healthier relationship. In breaking with the Taliban, the general stood up to some of the most troubling forces in Pakistani society, including military intelligence leaders and Islamic fundamentalists.
He promised a timely return to democracy and announced he would expel foreign fundamentalists, The Times said but stressed that his actions fell short of his words.
In the interview, Musharraf defended his continuation as chief of Army. Pakistan’s "political democratic stability" requires that he serve as both head of the military and President at the same time, he argued.
In return for his help in Afghanistan,
Musharraf hoped Washington would grant broad relief from the protectionist
American import quotas that stifle Pakistan’s textile and apparel industry,"
The Times noted. "Instead, only selective bonuses have been offered, many
for products Pakistan does not produce in large quantities."