US doesn't intend to meddle in Kashmir: Obama aide

SATISH

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US doesn't intend to meddle in Kashmir: Obama aide - US - World - The Times of India

WASHINGTON: The US does not intend to "meddle" in the Kashmir issue, but will support any effort by India and Pakistan to reduce their tensions, a
key aide to President Barack Obama says while pressing Islamabad to take the "first step" to bring to justice the Mumbai attack masterminds.

Allaying apprehensions in some quarters in India that US special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke's mandate may also include Kashmir, Bruce Riedel, who co-chaired the inter-agency committee which formulated the Af-Pak policy, said: "I do not think, the Obama administration intends to meddle in Kashmir."

Riedel, a former CIA official, said it is in the interest of the US to see tension between India and Pakistan be reduced and diminished and see a resumption of the bilateral composite dialogue and a back channel between India and Pakistan that produced some significant result between 2006 and May 2007.

"But at the end of the day it is fundamentally up to the Indians and Pakistanis to make those decisions, and change those policies that way. United States can be a supporter and it should be, but it is up to Indians and Pakistanis to find a way to reduce tensions between them," Riedel said.

"The critical first step in that regard that is for Pakistan to take steps to bring to justice the masterminds who murdered a 160 people in Mumbai last November. That is the first step, without that it would be very-very difficult to see a reduction in tension between Islamabad and New Delhi," he said.

"I can't see how any Indian government could or should simply forget what happened last November in Mumbai," Riedel said, insisting that those responsible for that massacre have to be brought to justice.

"The Pakistani government has been asking for evidence. I think, India has provided the evidence. Now it is time to take some action against Lashkar-e-Toiba, Jamaat-ud-Dawa and those who perpetrated this terrorist outrage," he said.

Commenting on bilateral ties, Riedel noted that there was a bipartisan consensus in the US that India would be one of the most important partners and friends to the United States in the 21st century.

"On every issue that matters to America, from international terrorism to global warming, to arms control, the future of democracy; India is a critical player and the US and India have fundamentally similar interests and values.

"And I think, across the political spectrum in the United States there is a recognition (about) that. This is an unusual area of consensus in American politics. I expect the Obama administration to continue what the Clinton and Bush administrations began, which is strengthening US-Indian relations," he said.

When asked whether the fizz in Indo-US ties that was witnessed during the previous Bush era was missing after Barack Obama became US President this year, Riedel replied in the negative.

Riedel said: "The Obama administration has rightly given India a chance to conduct its own political process. India has been in a process of a very important election and has come out with a very important result - the return of the Congress Government.

"By definition during that electoral period, US-Indian bilateral relations were on the back-burner, while India put its own political house in order."

With the Congress-led UPA back in power, Riedel said he expected bilateral diplomatic ties to regain the tempo and take a "significant uptick."

He also noted that Washington has rightly focused on the war in Afghanistan, and the deteriorating situation in Pakistan. At the same time, he made it clear that the Obama Administration intends to consult closely with New Delhi at every stage it moves forward on the new Afghanistan-Pakistan strategy.

"I think, that makes perfect sense as the government in New Delhi very much wants those consultations," he said.

Describing India as a "key player" in Afghanistan, Riedel noted that New Delhi has provided over USD 1 billion as aid to the Afghan government.
 
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how nice of the hypocrite obama who wants to have a nuke free world while tripling aid to a terrorist nation threatening to use nukes on it's neighbor.
 

Yusuf

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The US will most definitely do the exact opposite of what Reidel is saying. It is being lobbied hard by the Pakistanis who see the war on terror as an opportunity for them to blackmail the US into doing something substantial on the Kashmir issue in return for it's support for the WOT.
The very fact that such statements are being issued, proves that the US is infact doing things behind the scene but cannot be overtly seen to be doing anything as it will be seen insensitive by India.
 

Sridhar

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similar article from central chronicle ,

Watch Tower: Taliban's nexus with militant outfits in J-K
Category » Editorial Posted On Friday, June 05, 2009

The possibility of some Kashmiri militants being a part of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda can not be ruled out, considering that the outfits share fundamentalism and Jihadi tendencies- Sarla Handoo
The latest report by a US Think Tank has warned Pakistan that if it fails to take action against the terrorist outfits operating from its soil in Jammu and Kashmir and rest of India, New Delhi might consider the option of propping separatist outfits in both Balochistan and Sindh. It says there is no evidence of India doing so thus far though Pakistan has been blaming New Delhi on this account for the past five years or more. Islamabad has gone to the extent of saying that Indian Consulates in Afghanistan are indulging in this task only.
Whether India will do tit for tat is a moot question because India is not Pakistan where Generals decide the foreign policy options and counter-insurgency plans. Yes, despite the grudge that Pakistan is not doing anything to deal with the outfits like the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and the Jaish-e-Mohammad. (JeM). And the growing feeling that the release from house arrest of Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Mohd Saeed Hafeez demonstrates Pakistan's lack of seriousness in the fight against terrorism.
Pakistan looses no occasion to impulsively charge India for all the ills it is facing. Soon after the attack on Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore, there were accusations against India, by responsible persons, that there was an Indian hand in this. A minister of North West Frontier Government recently said all the militants getting killed in Swat were Indians. He ignores the fact that the Taliban has joined hands with other militant outfits in Pakistan and Afghanistan as well as the outfits operating from Pakistan in Kashmir.
Recently there were reports about presence of Taliban in Kashmir that raised a lot of dust across the board. There were firm denials from all quarters saying the reports could not be relied upon in the absence of any evidence. Even the militant arrested by the Security Forces from Gurez area, who was one of the group of 31 militants trying to cross over from across the LOC last month, denied such a presence. A section of local media in Kashmir thought that such reports were being circulated by those interested in spoiling the tourist season in the state.
But the matter does not end there. It may be true that so far there is no Taliban presence in Kashmir. That can not rule out the nexus between the two.
As early as November 2008, noted Pakistani Journalist Amir Mir wrote in 'The News' that the trouble stricken Waziristan region had become the new battlefield for the militants operating in Kashmir as they are joining hands with anti-US and pro-Taliban elements. His report appeared after British terror plot suspect Rashid Rauf was killed in a missile attack in Waziristan in which four other Al-Qaeda militants were also died. Rauf was a close relative of Maulana Masood Azhar, who the readers may recall, was released by NDA government in exchange for passengers of Indian Airlines plane hijacked to Kandahar in 2002. Amir said that the presence of Jaish-e Mohammad militants in the Waziristan region has been confirmed by the death of Rashid Rauf in the missile attack.
Another eminent Pakistani writer, Ahmad Rashid, also pointed out in his book 'Descent to Chaos' that the erstwhile Harkat-ul-Ansar, responsible for kidnapping foreigners in Kashmir had links with the Taliban. He said "Harkat was a key ally of Taliban and Al-Qaeda, helping in running training camps in Afghanistan for Kashmiri Militants"
The possibility of some Kashmiri militants being a part of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda can not be ruled out, considering that the outfits share fundamentalism and Jihadi tendencies. It is estimated that at least 50 percent or more militants operating in Jammu and Kashmir are foreigners.
According to Indian Army Chief Deepak Kapoor, when militants get into a radicalized or fundamentalist mode they do not worry about national boundaries or nationalities at all. They will wage a so called Jihad anywhere alongside Taliban in Afghanistan or in Jammu and Kashmir. So if there are foreign Militants operating in Jammu and Kashmir there is always the possibility of some Kashmiri militants operating within Taliban and Al-Qaeda anywhere else.
Basically, there are three Pakistan based militant outfits operating in Kashmir-Harkat-ul- Mujahideen, Jaish-e- Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Toiba. Hizbul Mujahideen chief Yousuf Shah alias Pir Syed Salahauddin, a resident of Srinagar, is also based in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.
In September 2008, US forces in Afghanistan targeted a training camp of Al-Badar, a militant outfit operating in Jammu and Kashmir, much before the International media had reported the arrest of three Hizbul Mujahideen cadres in south Waziristan. After Pakistan banned the organizations in the wake of 9/11 incident they are now operating under various other names.
The question that is being asked is whether Pakistan is sincere in dealing with these outfits. It appears Pakistan wants to act against them to convince the world community that it is one with them in the war against terror. At the same time it also wants to protect the terror outfits, for use against India. The practice of releasing militants soon after their arrest under international pressure also raises doubts about Pakistan's credentials.
Even after a month long operation in the Swat valley and the nearby Buner and Dir, no Taliban leader worth the name has been arrested. Waziristan, the hotbed of Talibanism has been spared. There are reports about the killing of Baitullah Mehsood and Maulana Fazulullah but these reports are not independently corroborated.
There is a growing view that the refugee crisis in Pakistan has been stepped up to earn international sympathy and shift the focus away from the real problem. Given its track record, the conjecture may not be wide off the mark.
The point is the terrorist originations in Pakistan may be down for the time being in view of the military operation against them but surely they are not out. Even today they are whisking away the youth from relief camps. The suicide attacks across the length and breadth of Pakistan are a chilling message that Pakistani state has to travel a long distance before it can claim to eradicate terrorism from the country.

Central Chronicle - Madhya Pradesh's News Portal
 

johnee

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US has fallen for pak trap. The paks are clearly using US to further their own goals. Time for India to have an 'independent' foreign and defence policy and if it crosses the US' 'War on Terror', so be it.
 

1.44

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The US has been bending over backward to get Indian as an ally.I'm not sure about Obama, His actions toward India have been mostly vague.It's too early to know what what the true Obama policy will be regarding kashmir will be.In any case India won't in any condition allow the US to meddle in Kashmir as it's an internal issue no matter how much the Pakistanis bark about it being 'dispute territory'.
 

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