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| India-Pakistan |
| Russia Fails to Persuade Pakistan, India to Budge |
| 2002-06-05 |
| Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, tried unsuccessfully to bridge the divide today by meeting separately with Musharraf and Vajpayee for hours after the main summit session. Putin proposed that the two leaders join him in Moscow to continue the search for peace, Musharraf said afterward. But Vajpayee, maintaining India's long-standing policy, rejected international mediation of the Kashmir issue, and aides said he had no intention of visiting the Russian capital this year. Putin sought to put the best face on the situation. "Conditions for organizing meetings are understood differently, but there is a desire to maintain such contacts," he told reporters before leaving town. "Both the Indian and Pakistani leaders stressed that they have no intention of using force to resolve their problems." Pak has used force to create the problem, and India in reaction to the problem. A resolution would involve Kashmir going with one state or the other or becoming independent, and neither would stand for two out of three of the possible results. Since Kashmir is one of the Islamists' causes, Musharraf wouldn't last if he lost it, and the next set of festivities would begin immediately to get it back into the Islamic fold. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |