Defensive about remarks made at carnegie

Washington, July 13 (UNI) Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri has said, ''There should not be a kneejerk reaction that everything happening in India starts from Pakistan''.

In an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer here last night, Mr Kasuri tried to defend himself for his remarks linking the Mumbai train blasts to solving ''Kashmir dispute'' saying, ''The government of Pakistan, its President, the Prime Minister and I have condemned it unreservedly.'' When Blitzer drew his attention to the criticism in India about the remarks he had made at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Mr Kasuri said, ''When the Indian government itself has admitted that the border crossings by the Kashmir-based militants has come down, why should there be finger-pointing (at Pakistan) every time? India is a vast country, it has its own problems, there are attacks in other parts of India.'' But Mr Kasuri went on to explain that the extremists in Kashmir ''were the enemies of the peace process between India and Pakistan'' and admitted that border crossings of extremists had come down in the last few months and even Indian authorities have admitted it.'' Blitzer told the Minister that there were statements (blaming Pakistan) coming from India, given the history of the tensions between India and Pakistan. Blitzer pointed out that one former member ofthe Indian National Security Advisory boardhas been quoted in the ''Wall Street Journal'' this week as saying it has all the hallmarks of a terrorist act coming from a militant organisation that has got its headquarters and gets its sustenance from Pakistan.

Mr Kasuri avoided any comments on the Pakistan-link with terrorists and stated that the Pakistan government has ''admitted publicly and it has been carried widely by Indian newspapers that what they describe as movement (cross border terrorism) across the Line of Control has calmed down drastically.'' He said the Line of Control is the source of all the tensions between the two governments.

Mr Kasuri had said at the Carnegie that there was a link between the terrorists attacks and the Kashmir issue which was yet to be solved. Kashmir has been feeding extremism, he added.

India reacted strongly to his remarks calling it ''appaling that Mr Kasuri should seek to link this blatant and inhuman act of terror against innocent men, women and children to the so-called lack of resolution of disputes between India and Pakistan.'' UNI XC PR BST2009