India likely to figure in Bush-Musharraf talks

Washington, Sep 22: India is likely to figure in the ''wide-ranging'' talks that Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf will have with President George Bush at the White House later in the day today.

On the eve of the White House meeting, Gen Musharraf met Vice-President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

President Musharraf, who held discussions with Ms Rice in New York yesterday, shortly before coming here, informed her about his meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Havana, Cuba, where they had met on the Fringes of the recently concluded Non-Aligned summit.

He appeared upbeat about the outcome of his parleys with Mr Manmohan Singh, saying that India and Pakistan, given the courage and flexibility of their respective leadership, would be able to iron out their differences, even on vexed issues like Kashmir.

Besides India-Pakistan relations, he discussed with Vice-President Cheney and Secretary Rice the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, particularly on the volatile border of the two countries, and Washington-Islamabad ties, including their ''strategic partnership''.

Meanwhile, a minor row has developed before Bush-Musharraf meeting over President Bush's remark, asserting that he would authorize American forces to track down Osama bin Laden inside Pakistan if he received ''reliable intelligence'' on al-Qaeda leader's whereabouts.

Gen Musharraf, however, said he did not want his nation's sovereignty violated, even by US agents in pursuit of bin Laden.

Afghanistan is likely to dominate the Bush-Musharraf talks in view of the spurt in Taliban activities in Southern Afghanistan, bordering Pakistan.

Kabul has complained that Pakistan is not doing enough to deal with Taliban terrorists who used Pakistani territory as their safe haven. Pakistan denies the allegation, generating tension in Kabul-Islamabad ties. This has prompted President Bush to convene here on September 27, a trilateral meeting, with General Musharraf and Afghan President Hamid Karzai to defuse the tension and evolve a coordinated approach to deal with the Afghan insurgency.

President Musharraf will also take the opportunity to explain the rationale behind the controversial deal that Pakistani authorities had recently signed with tribal chiefs in its semi-autonomous province, North Waziristan, objected to by Afghanistan. The latter feels that area is a kind of safe haven for the Taliban terrorists and the peace deal would reduce the military pressure there, giving them a free reign.

Earlier, State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said, the US continued to work with both Islamabad and Kabul to help deal with the security issues.

''Part of the reason why we meet in a trilateral format - Afghanistan, Pakistan and the US-is an acknowledgement of the fact that what happens on one side of the border affects other side and that we all need to be working together in coordination with one another to deal with the problems out there,'' he said.

He said, ''the meeting at a head-of-state level is, in effect, part of a continuation of that dialogue and certainly something we encourage. But this isn't about pointing fingers at one another.''

UNI

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