“The United States has led Western support for a major speech by the Pakistani President, Pervez Musharraf, aimed at defusing tensions with India and curbing Islamic extremism within Pakistan.
The White House said President George Bush welcomed what he saw as the Pakistani leader’s firm decision to stand against terrorism and extremism,” BBC News reports.
The United States welcomes President Musharraf’s explicit statements against terrorism and particularly notes his pledge that Pakistan will not tolerate terrorism under any pretext
And the American Secretary of State, Colin Powell, who is about to visit South Asia, said the speech provided the basis for resolving tensions with India through diplomatic means.
General Musharraf used the televised address to the nation to announce a series of measures to control militants, including a ban on five groups – among them two Kashmiri separatist organisations – blamed by India for last month’s attack on the Indian parliament.
This is all well and good — and Musharraf seems far more sincere in his crackdown on militant groups than say, Yasser Arafat — but India needs to believe his sincerity moreso even than the does U.S., and so far at least, India has taken a hard line; while the U.S. has gone one out of its way to praise General Musharraf, the “Indian Government is expected to comment on Mr. Musharraf’s speech on Sunday.” Nevertheless:
[…] a senior member of India’s governing BJP, K.R. Malkhani, told the BBC that Pakistan had still not taken effective enough measures to combat extremism.
The BBC’s Jill McGivering in Delhi says the mood of scepticism in India will be hard to counter as tension between the two nuclear rivals remains high.
Meanwhile, UPI is reporting that “authorities in Pakistan have arrested more than 800 religious activists during the last 24 hours.”
[…] Responding to an Indian demand, Musharraf ordered Saturday to disband two Kashmiri militant groups called Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed. He also disbanded two sectarian groups, Sipah-e-Sahaba of majority Sunni and Tehrik-e-Jafria of minority Shiite Muslim sects.
India blames Lashkar and Jaish for attacking the parliament building in New Delhi on Dec. 13 and demanded Pakistan disband the groups.
New Delhi also has presented a list of 20 militants it wants extradited for committing terrorist acts against India. Musharraf rejected the demand, saying he would be willing to try and punish them in Pakistan if New Delhi provided evidence against them.
As for the situation in Kashmir, Musharraf addressed that head on, the BBC reports: “‘We will never budge from our principled position on Kashmir. Kashmir has to be resolved through dialogue in accordance with the wishes of the people of Pakistan and in accordance with the UN resolutions'” he said.
“Mr Musharraf also stressed the need for continued reform of Pakistan’s religious schools or madrassahs which are perceived to have encouraged militancy and helped the development of the Taleban.”
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