Search the Internet          Tips  Links: Terror in America

'We are used to Musharraf's calls': Omar Abdullah

Refuting suggestions in sections of the media that American warplanes have been refuelling at Indian airports, Minister of State for External Affairs Omar Abdullah said that the pictures being carried in some leading national dailies showed not American, but Japanese, aircraft. And further, that they were not warplanes but cargo planes.

"We have seen the pictures that have been carried by some of the leading national dailies, they actually show Japanese transport aircraft using Kolkotta airport for refuelling," the minister clarified. "Japanese are involved in giving humanitarian aid to the Afghan people, as per their constitution the Japanese do not take part directly in any war."

Responding to another suggestion that India was asking the US to mediate on the question of Kashmir, Abdullah said that the question did not even arise, and that India's stand -- that Kashmir is a bilateral issue -- remains unchanged.

"The fact that we ask US to ban Jaish-e-Mohammad does not mean that we are asking the US to mediate in Kashmir," Abdullah said. "There is no question of external mediation on Kashmir, India and Pakistan have to sort out this issue bilaterally. We are asking US to ban Jaish because we have been able to link that outfit with the Al Qaida of Osama bin Laden. US President George Bush has given an undertaking to our prime minister that he will be issuing an executive order to that effect soon. Since we are fighting a war on terrorism, and since the Jaish has links with Osama, it is appropriate for us to ask for this ban."

Abdullah was also scathing about Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, who in his televised press conference on Monday morning had used harsh words against India and later in the evening, telephoned Prime Minister Vajpayee asking for moderation.

"We have become used to General Musharraf's phone calls," Abdullah said dismissively. "What he says on Kashmir is for domestic consumption, and each time he says something, he then picks up the phone and calls us to calm down tempers here. He is passing through a difficult phase, and he wants to play to the gallery in Pakistan by talking tough on Kashmir."

"General Musharraf was flatly told by the prime minister that if he is all that concerned about terrorism, then he should do something about the training camps in Pakistan," Abdullah elaborated. "Prime Minister Vajpayee told him that Pakistan should stop giving the terrorists military and financial assistance, and also added that India would appreciate some action, not just words."

The minister saw nothing amiss in Bush's reported statement that once the Afghan problem is solved, the US would turn its attention to Kashmir. "It does not mean that the US will interfere," the minister said. "Since we are talking of a global fight against terrorism, it could also mean that the US is talking of looking at terrorist camps in Pakistan. Bush has assured our prime minister that the US will address Indian concerns once the Afghan problem is solved."

Read also:
Bush undertakes to ban Jaish e Mohammad
Full transcript of Pervez Musharraf's press conference
Vajpayee talks tough to Musharraf

The War on Terrorism: The Complete Coverage
The Terrorism Weblog: Latest Stories from Around the World
External Link:
For further coverage, please visit www.saja.org/roundupsept11.html

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report