Title: Stop cross-border terrorism, US to Pak
Author: CHIDANAND RAJGHATTA
Publication: Mid-Day
Date: Mar 8, 2002
URL: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Articleshow.asp?art_id=3151300

WASHINGTON: President Bush and key US officials have asked Pakistan's military ruler Pervez Musharraf to lay off cross-border terrorism against India to create conditions for a meaningful dialogue between the two countries, a senior administration official disclosed on Thursday.

"President Bush has personally told Musharraf and the US Ambassador in Pakistan also keeps telling him to stop cross-border terrorism before there can be any meaningful dialogue," the official bluntly told a group of Indian and Pakistani correspondents in a background exchange remarkable for its candour.

The official freely used the expression "cross-border terrorism," and implicit in his comments was an endorsement of New Delhi's long-standing charge that Pakistan was waging a proxy war against India, a position not often acknowledged in public by US mandarins.

However, the official also indicated that the American advice was having a salutary effect and Pakistan was changing its policy. Typically, cross-border infiltration decreases every winter but this year it is "noticeably down," he said.

The official also suggested that the administration had reason to believe Musharraf had rolled up the ISI cells responsible for activities in Afghanistan and Kashmir, an event widely reported in the media but officially denied by Pakistan.

"We are in a new day. Pakistan has to make strategic changes, not tactical ones. There is no place for cross-border terrorism and even Musharraf has agreed to that," the official explained. He continued, "Is it (cross-border terrorism) down to zero? No. But it needs to get there. That is what the President (Bush) is saying."

Asked what would happen if Musharraf rejected US advice and continued with Pakistan's aggravating policies, the official candidly remarked, "We take him at his word. We will be with him if he acts. If he plays games, then there will be a problem."

Seemingly agreeing with the proposition that a downturn in terrorism could lead to resumption o fthe political process and normalisation in the state, the official, who cannot be named under rules previously agreed, expressed the administration’s keen anticipation of the forthcoming elections in Jammu and Kashmir. He hoped all parties, including the Hurriyat, would contest the polls.

But the elections needed to be free and fair and the Government of India should also permit the Hurriyat leaders to travel freely since they are Indian citizens, he said.

There was less clarity on the administration's position on the prospective election in Pakistan with the official not committing to any specific views on Musharraf's continuation in office and the eligibility of former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharief to contest the polls.

Other remarks by the official suggested that the Bush administration would continue to lavish both attention and aid in an effort to wean Pakistan away from what is widely seen here as a disastrous decade of faulty policies.