US hopes India, Pak will push Kashmir into background

United States Assistant Secretary of State Robin Raphel has hoped that India and Pakistan would accord priority to their dispute on the Siachin glacier, and to trade, keeping the contentious Kashmir issue in the background, at least for the time being, for the success of their proposed dialogue.

Replying to questions at a seminar in Washington on Wednesday, she said it was for New Delhi and Islamabad to decide how to deal with the Kashmir problem. ''We certainly consider that relations between India and Pakistan are a key'' to stability in South Asia, she added.

She said India and Pakistan could come up with an arrangement in which Kashmir was not the first item on their agenda. She favoured Siachin to be the first and trade to be the second item on the India-Pakistan agenda while tensions prevailed between them.

Raphel, who is incharge of South Asia in the state department, said the US was for stability in India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. ''That will serve our interest. We have enough on our plate,'' she added.

She said the US had never supported the Taliban militia currently in control of capital Kabul.

She wanted all Afghan factions to cooperate with the United Nations in putting into place a broad-based government in Afghanistan. The sooner it was done the better, she added.

The seminar was on 'Pakistan's future', organised by the US Institute for Peace and the Middle East Institute. Besides, Raphel, other who spoke included former US ambassador to Pakistan Robert B Oakley, Paula R Newberg of Georgetown University, and former ambassador Dennis Kux.

Kux, who is now a senior fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Centre, said it was a ''tough and dicey task'' for Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to find a formula to move ahead in talks with India, bypassing Kashmir.

''India will not budge on Kashmir,'' he said, adding the two countries might find some formula like that of the Middle East, which allowed Israel and Palestinians to enter into negotiations, keeping in abeyance the future of Jerusalem.

Kux, however, said it would be unrealistic to expect a major breakthrough in the India-Pakistan talks stalled since January 1994.

He said India had allowed concessions to Nepal and Bangladesh to clinch the water-sharing agreements. In case of Pakistan, it could liberalise visa procedure and offer concessions in trade, and an initiative could be taken on Siachin glacier as well, he added.

Earlier, Raphel ruled out the possibility of the resumption of massive US economic aid to Pakistan. ''The future is more investment and trade than aid,'' she added.

She expressed concern at the economic situation in Pakistan. It was difficult for it to meet its commitment to the International Monetary Fund, particularly with regard to the deficit reduction measures. Would the new Pakistan government cut defence expenditure and impose agriculture tax, she asked.

Raphel said Pakistan should first get rid of politically motivated obstacles to trade. Much could be gained by improving trade relations with India, she added.

UNI