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U.S. came close to declaring Pakistan a "terrorist" State in 1992
NEW DELHI: Proof is now available to support suggestions that the United States came close to declaring Pakistan a terrorist State in 1992, as Islamabad increased support to militant elements operating in Jammu & Kashmir.Pakistani scholar Hussain Haqqani reveals that a May 12, 1992 letter from U.S. Secretary of State James Baker to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif directly blamed Islamabad for extending support to terrorists operating in India. Handing over the letter to Mr. Sharif, U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan Nicholas Platt also provided some "talking points," which are, now, in the possession of Mr. Haqqani, who had worked as Press Secretary to both Mr. Sharif and Ms. Benazir Bhutto. The "talking points" are damning. "We are very confident of our information that your intelligence service, the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate, and elements of the Army are supporting Kashmiri and Sikh militants who carry out acts of terrorism... This support takes the form of providing weapons, training and assistance in infiltration ... We're talking about direct, covert support from the Government of Pakistan," Mr. Platt's written "talking points"stated. "Our information is certain. It does not come from the Indian Government. Please consider the serious consequences to our relationship if this support continues... If the situation persists, the Secretary of State may find himself required by law to place Pakistan in the U.S.G. [United States Government] State sponsors of terrorism list... You must take concrete steps to curtail assistance to militants and not allow their training camps to operate in Pakistan or Azad Kashmir," the "talking points" added. In his book, "Pakistan: Between Mosque and Military," Mr. Haqqani referred to a meeting that Mr. Sharif presided over on May 18, 1992. "We have been covering our tracks so far and will cover them even better in the future," Mr. Haqqani, who was present at the meeting, quoted ISI chief Lt. Gen. Javed Nasir as saying. According to Mr. Haqqani, Mr. Sharif agreed with this assessment and sanctioned a sum of $2 million for stronger lobbying efforts in the U.S. Foreign Secretary Shehryar Khan, however, disagreed with this assessment, the book said. The Foreign Secretary said Pakistan would "probably be more successful by focussing on diplomacy and political action" in favour of the Kashmiris, instead of "setting off bombs." At the same meeting, Chief of Army Staff Asif Nawaz said it was not in Pakistan's interest to get into a confrontation with the U.S., but "we cannot shut down military operations against India either." The removal of Lt. Gen. Javed Nasir as ISI chief in 1993 took the pressure off Pakistan and the Americans backed off from their threat of declaring Islamabad a State sponsor of terrorism. Posted by: john 2006-04-30 |
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