CHINA: PAKISTANI PRESIDENT MUSHARRAF REITERATES THE NEED TO FIGHT AGAINST TERROR AND SAYS HE WANTS PEACE WITH INDIA BUT KASHMIR ISSUE CANNOT BE SIDELINED

Record ID: 376135

  • Title: CHINA: PAKISTANI PRESIDENT MUSHARRAF REITERATES THE NEED TO FIGHT AGAINST TERROR AND SAYS HE WANTS PEACE WITH INDIA BUT KASHMIR ISSUE CANNOT BE SIDELINED
  • Date: 4th November 2003
  • Summary: (W3) BEIJING, CHINA (NOVEMBER 4, 2003) (REUTERS) 1. LONG OF PEKING UNIVERSITY HALL 0.07 2. PAKISTAN PRESIDENT PERVEZ MUSHARRAF WALKING TO PODIUM 0.15 3. STUDENTS LISTENING 0.22 4. (SOUNDBITE) (English) PAKISTAN PRESIDENT PERVEZ MUSHARRAF, SAYING "There must also be no doubt that we must all act, we must launch a war against extremis
  • Embargoed: 19th November 2003 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BEIJING, CHINA
  • Country: China
  • Reuters ID: LVA74RN1W99NPL1GYCPJJDN5C4TH
  • Story Text: Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf says wants
    peace with India, Kashmir issue cannot be sidelined.


    Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf addressed
    students in China on Tuesday (November 4) on the
    importance of continuing the war against terror and
    achieving a dialogue on the Kashmir issue.

    Musharraf arrived in Beijing on Monday (November 3)
    after attending the Boao Forum for Asia in the southern
    Chinese island province of Hainan at the weekend.

    In his speech to students at the prestigious Peking
    University, he reiterated the need to fight against terror,
    which he has expressed to Chinese president Hu Jintao
    during Monday's (November 3) meeting.

    "There must also be no doubt that we must all act, we
    must launch a war against extremism and terrorism. But
    operations against extremists and terrorists that are going
    on must continue. But let me say that these are only
    symptoms -- if we want to win the war, if we want to
    succeed against these extremists and terrorists that we are
    talking about, we will win a battle, a tactical battle
    because these are the symptoms," Musharraf said.

    Chinese officials have said that small numbers of
    separatist Muslims from the restive northwest region of
    Xinjiang have trained in al Qaeda camps in Pakistan.

    Musharraf also said Pakistan wants peace with India and
    critisized India saying it was sidelining the issue of
    Kashmir.

    "We have been making overtures to India to start the
    process of dialogue and move forward to a resolution of
    Kashmir. Unfortunately we feel that there is a degree of
    lack of sincerity on the Indian side. They have not
    starting talking to us, they are not having a dialogue with
    us," Musharraf said.

    Musharraf's visit comes on the heels of joint naval
    exercises between Pakistan and China, its main supplier of
    military hardware, off the coast of Shanghai late last
    month. Those exercises were China's first with a foreign
    navy.

    Musharraf said the continued support of Beijing on
    contentious issues like Kashmir is essential.

    "On Kashmir, China has taken a very principled stand.

    we have been supportive to China on the issues of Taiwan
    and human rights. We move in tandem, when we grapple with
    the issues of global peace and security,
    disarmament, non-proliferation, and outer space," Musharraf
    said.

    Musharraf also met with Jia Qinglin, the communist party's
    central committee chief, to review relations the two areas have
    been enjoying since the Silk Road connected them centuries ago.

    The two countries signed a string of economic
    agreements on Monday (November 3) to bolster trade ties
    including one facilitating Pakistani mango exports to the
    booming China economy.

    But no mention was made of a multi-million dollar
    agreement for Chinese help in building a nuclear power
    plant in Pakistan which was expected to have been finalised
    during Musharrf's visit.

    The United States has repeatedly urged China to stop
    its nuclear cooperation with Pakistan, but both Beijing and
    Islamabad say they are not working together for military
    purposes.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register