20000322

Clinton says violence in Kashmir must end

NEW DELHI: US President Bill Clinton called on India and Pakistan on Tuesday to hold direct talks on Kashmir after dozens of Sikhs were massacred there, telling the nuclear rivals: "The violence must end."

Kashmir and the nuclear rivalry between India and Pakistan dominated Clinton's talks with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on the first visit by a US president in 22 years.

Clinton did not appear to have made much headway on either problem.

Vajpayee politely, but firmly, told Clinton that Kashmir was a matter for India and Pakistan to handle.

Clinton has offered to mediate in the Kashmir dispute, over which the two countries have fought two of their three wars since 1947, but only if both sides agree.

"We agreed that problems between countries of the region should be resolved peacefully by the concerned countries themselves," Vajpayee said at a joint news conference with Clinton after their talks.

In his toast to the US leader at a state dinner on Tuesday night, Indian President President Kocheril Raman Narayanan took issue with Clinton for saying on March 10 that the Indian subcontinent and Kashmir represented perhaps "the most dangerous place in the world today".

"It has been suggested that the Indian subcontinent is the most dangerous place in the world today and Kashmir is a nuclear flashpoint. These alarmist descriptions will only encourage those who want to break the peace and indulge in terrorism and violence," Narayanan said.

He said if Indian independence is threatened, "it becomes the duty of the Indian state -- its duty to the one billion people who inhabit our vast land -- to defend them with all the resources and strength at its disposal."

He renewed India's appeal for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, a position rejected by the United States.

At the news conference, Vajpayee said his country must maintain a "minimum nuclear deterrent," a not-unexpected rebuff of America's goal of persuading India to give up its nuclear programmes.

Still, Clinton saw signs of hope, saying he felt after the talks that "there was a possibility that we could reach more common ground" on key issues.

Clinton condemned the killing of at least 35 Sikhs late on Monday and said it was time for respect of the Line of Control dividing Kashmir. Indian and Pakistani troops have been engaged in intense shelling there in recent days.

"The violence must end," Clinton said. "This should be a time for restraint."

He called for "renewed lines of communication" between the two counries. There have been no talks between the two sides on Kashmir in a year.

He called for "renewed lines of communication". There have been no talks between the two sides on Kashmir in a year.

Pakistan, which said on Tuesday it hoped the U.S. President might open the door to a peaceful settlement.

Clinton will stop briefly in Pakistan on Saturday for talks with the military leaders who seized power last October.

Vajpayee and Clinton signed a statement laying out a foundation for closer ties between the world's two largest democracies.

Regular high-level meetings were agreed on, including a visit by Vajpayee to Washington later this year.

Clinton also eased sanctions imposed after India conducted nuclear tests two years ago to allow the resumption of a $25 million U.S.-funded programme to help reform India's financial markets.

But U.S. officials made clear there were limits to how close the United States could be to India unless it agreed to restrain its nuclear programme by signing the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and taking other steps.

U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said she hoped Clinton's visit would pave the way for the United States and India to find common ground.

"Now that they have exploded nuclear devices, India and Pakistan have all the more reason to avoid armed conflict and to restart discussions," she told reporters.

"I hope that the Indian people will see the president's trip as a way of opening a relationship that has been long overdue, and that the oldest democracy and the largest democracy have a great deal in common," she said.

But Vajpayee signalled no movement from previous positions.

He told Clinton India must maintain a "minimum nuclear deterrent," but would conduct no further nuclear tests.

"There is no threat of any war," Vajpayee said. "We do not think in terms of war and nobody should think in those terms in the subcontinent."

But of Kashmir violence, he said: "We have the means and the will to eliminate this menace."

A band of assassins gunned down 35 Sikh villagers on Monday night on the Indian side of the Himalayan territory shortly before Clinton began his state visit to India.

No one claimed responsibility for the massacre. Indian National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra said India believed that two Pakistani-supported "terrorist outfits" were responsible.

India accuses Pakistan of sponsoring separatist guerrillas in Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan denies the accusation, saying it provides only political and moral support to Kashmiri militants.

Clinton has offered to mediate in the Kashmir dispute, over which the two countries have fought two of their three wars since 1947, but only if both sides agree.

Reiterating New Delhi's opposition to outside involvement, Vajpayee said: "We agreed that problems between countries of the region should be resolved peacefully by the concerned countries themselves."

In Islamabad, Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar said Pakistan hoped Clinton would bring his "healing touch" to the region.

"We have no specific formula, but we hope his discussions may succeed in opening a door to a peaceful settlement which will get the two countries out of the time warp they have been in for 52 years," he said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Clinton and his daughter Chelsea visited the memorial to Mahatma Gandhi, the Indian independence leader and champion of non-violence assassinated in 1948.

Father and daughter took off their shoes in a mark of respect before the president placed a white wreath on the memorial. The Clintons circled the memorial and showered it with rose petals.

Shouting "Clinton go back," about 2,000 members of India's four left-wing political parties held a wildcat protest in New Delhi. They burned an effigy of Clinton, and a small group clashed with police, who arrested some 300 to 400 people for violating laws prohibiting mass public assemblies.

Clinton visits five Indian cities before going to Pakistan to meet military ruler General Pervez Musharraf.-Reuters