INDIA/PAKISTAN: U.S SECRETARY OF DEFENCE DONALD RUMSFELD TALKS WITH INDIAN PRIME MINISTER AND ARRIVES IN PAKISTAN FOR TALKS ON TERRORISM/KASHMIR
Record ID:
1374286
INDIA/PAKISTAN: U.S SECRETARY OF DEFENCE DONALD RUMSFELD TALKS WITH INDIAN PRIME MINISTER AND ARRIVES IN PAKISTAN FOR TALKS ON TERRORISM/KASHMIR
- Title: INDIA/PAKISTAN: U.S SECRETARY OF DEFENCE DONALD RUMSFELD TALKS WITH INDIAN PRIME MINISTER AND ARRIVES IN PAKISTAN FOR TALKS ON TERRORISM/KASHMIR
- Date: 12th June 2002
- Summary: (W5) NEW DELHI, INDIA (JUNE 12, 2002) (ANI) SLV CAR CARRYING U.S. DEFENCE SECRETARY DONALD RUMSFELD/CONVOY ARRIVING AT INDIAN PRIME MINISTER ATAL BEHARI VAJPAYEE'S RESIDENCE SMV RUMSFELD GOING IN FOR THE MEETING WIDE OF CONVOY OF VEHICLES OUTSIDE RESIDENCE VARIOUS OF DONALD RUMSFELD AND INDIAN PRIME MINISTER ATAL BEHARI VAJPAYEE IN MEETING (7 SHOTS) SMV MEDIA WIDE OF RUMSFELD WALKING OUTSIDE TOWARDS MEDIA AFTER THE MEETING CUTAWAY MEDIA/PRESS SCU (SOUNDBITE) (ENGLISH) RUMSFELD SAYING: "With respect to the tensions that exist in the world particularly here between India and Pakistan let me simply say this. We recognise the leadership that the prime minister has demonstrated during this period, it has been a period that has been tense, it continues to be a tense situation. We recognise the fact that India has recently taken a number of steps that have been useful, for example resuming all the flights, indicating that the High Commissioner will be named and returned to Pakistan and needless to say the movement of naval forces in the south. We had discussions on terrorism , United States and India are cooperating in a variety of ways in that connection." CUTAWAY MEDIA SCU (SOUNDBITE) (ENGLISH) RUMSFELD SAYING: "I have seen evidence ... let me rephrase it, I have seen indications that there in fact are al Qaeda operating in the area... that we are talking about, near the line of control. I do not have hard evidence of precisely how many or who or where. Needless to say there are an awful lot of people in the world who want to do everything possible to stop al Qaeda from planning and executing additional terrorist acts." WIDE OF OPEN AIR NEWS CONFERENCE SMV MEDIA/ CAMERA CREWS SMV CAR WITH RUMSFELD LEAVING
- Embargoed: 12th August 2014 12:15
- Keywords:
- Location: NEW DELHI, INDIA/ ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN
- City:
- Country: Pakistan
- Topics: Crime,General,Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA16VS7F1OKOMC0X3N8UQGH5WF0
- Aspect Ratio: 4:3
- Story Text: The United States has seen "indications" that al Qaeda militants are operating near the line of control dividing disputed Kashmir, U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has said after holding talks with Indian leaders in New Delhi.
Rumsfeld later arrived in Islamabad on the second leg of his peace mission aimed at bringing the nuclear neighbours back from the brink of war.
U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Wednesday (June 12) al Qaeda militants might be operating in Kashmir, adding an explosive element to the disputed region which has brought India and Pakistan near to war.
He made the comments as he left New Delhi for Islamabad on a mission to avert a war between the nuclear-armed rivals, which some fear could be triggered by a big militant attack.
But he added that he had no hard evidence of how many militants and where they might be. Rumsfeld had earlier warned that al Qaeda might try to provoke a war between India and Pakistan.
"I have seen indications that there in fact are al Qaeda operating in the area...near the line of control," Rumsfeld said. "I do not have hard evidence of precisely how many or who or where," he added at a news conference in New Delhi after talks with Indian leaders.
India has alleged that fighters from Saudi-born Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda group and former Taliban have moved to Kashmir after being forced onto the run from Afghanistan in the U.S.-led war on terrorism.
Pakistan has pledged to put a permanent halt to the infiltration of Muslim militants across the line of control to carry out attacks on Indian forces in support of a 12-year-old separatist revolt in the Indian-ruled part of Kashmir.
Rumsfeld who arrived in the Indian capital New Delhi on a mission aimed at averting war between the two arch rivals was holding meetings with senior Indian ministers in New Delhi on Wednesday before flying later to Islamabad.
Tensions between the neighbours have already eased somewhat after India reopened its airspace to Pakistani flights and recalled warships patrolling off Pakistani waters, but Pakistan is pushing for more.
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf said on Wednesday he wanted to see both sides pull back from the border, where a million men have been mobilised since a December attack on the Indian parliament that India blamed on Pakistan-based Kashmiri separatists.
Tensions rose further after a May 14 raid on an Indian army camp which New Delhi again blamed on Pakistan-based militants.
For Rumsfeld, the immediate focus was reducing the immediate risk of war, before tackling deeper problems behind their dispute over Kashmir.
India is determined to douse the Kashmiri separatist revolt before state elections due there later this year, which it sees as key to legitimising its rule in the Muslim-majority state.
Islamabad, which has long said the Kashmiri people should be allowed to vote on whether to join Pakistan or India, wants attention focused instead on alleged human rights abuses and vote-rigging by what it calls "Indian occupying forces".
The dispute over the Himalayan region is a legacy of the hurried partition by departing British colonial rulers of the Indian subcontinent into Islamic Pakistan and secular but mostly Hindu India at independence in 1947.
India says that giving up Kashmir would undermine its secular credentials and trigger a series of other separatist movements that it fears could ultimately dismember the country.
While Pakistan has long favoured international mediation over the Kashmir dispute, New Delhi is opposed to outside interference in a region it considers an integral part.
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