Senators want Clinton to visit Pak too

Senators want Clinton to visit Pak too
CHIDANANDA RAJGHATTA

WASHINGTON, FEB 9: Amid a continuing and wrenching debate in US political, diplomatic, and academic circles over President Clinton's visit to South Asia, several senior lawmakers on Tuesday urged the administration to consider a Presidential stopover in Pakistan if only to save it from itself.

At a hearing of the weighty Senate Foreign Relations Committee, at least three generally well-meaning and fair-minded Senators urged a Pakistan stopover, suggesting that leaving Islamabad to its own devices could be dangerous.

The motivation for the Senatorial plea for a Presidential stopover in Pakistan was not directed so much at US arbitration on Kashmir as to enable Washington get a handle over the issue of terrorism.

One of the Senators, Kansas Republican Sam Brownback, said the US needed to deal with terrorism and since international terrorism had shifted to the region "we need to be engaged with Pakistan to be able to deal with it." "My fear is if the President goes to India and not to Pakistan, we furthermove Pakistan away from us, our ability to be able to deal with them, and we actually strengthen the very hand that we seek to weaken that of the really militant fundamentalists within Pakistan," Brownback said.

Christopher Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, also urged a Pakistan stopover, saying by doing so US could address Indian concerns about "certain actions that Pakistan has taken and events in Pakistan."

"I don't think there's much likelihood on resolving Kashmir in the next few weeks, nor are we likely to deal with the issue of the nuclear weapons overnight, but I think there can be some statements and some things done on democratisation and terrorism in the next few weeks which the Pakistani government could take," Dodd said.

If the administration was inclined to act on their suggestion, it was not immediately apparent in the remarks of Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who was testifying before the committee.

She stuck to the stand that no decision had been taken on the President going toPakistan pending Islamabad addressing US concerns on terrorism, return to democracy and non-proliferation.

Apparently, the tentative moves of the Musharraf regime on each of these issues has not yet met the US benchmarks.

More significant however was the tone and tenor of both the Senators and the Secretary on the essential difference between the trip to India and a possible stopover in Pakistan.

While the Senators agreed on the need to engage India Dodd called it a "great ally of ours and a tremendous democracy" the agenda they suggested for Pakistan was aimed primarily at saving Islamabad from causing havoc in the region and self-destructing. They all agreed that Kashmir was a source of tension, but their primary concern appeared to be how to reign in Pakistan's aggravating stance.

Albright too, while agreeing that Kashmir was a "fuse" that needed to be addressed, chose to dwell on a wider agenda that would be on the plate during the Presidential visit.

"There are a number of issues, not onlythe non-proliferation issue, which is obviously very high, but in terms of business and environment and a number of ways that we can include India more," she said.

Even Brownback, whose lawmaking efforts diluted some of the sanctions against Pakistan, urged the administration not to oppose international financial institution loans to India. "I would hope that those would be waived by the administration in our effort to broaden the relationship with India," he said.

Meanwhile, US officials said "too much need not be read" into Secretary Albright's remarks that not too much should be expected from President Clinton's trip to India and the visit does not suggest an approval of India's policies. The remark had been reported with great relish in the Pakistani media and led to the usual round of breast-beating in India.

In fact, administration sources say Secretary Albright is relatively out of the loop on South Asia in part because of her preoccupation with Middle East and the area is being handled almostentirely by Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott and Under Secretary of State Thomas Pickering.

Albright has had to defer even her trip to India ahead of President Clinton. Indian Foreign Secretary Lalit Mansingh, who arrived here last night, will also be interacting with Talbott and Pickering, and will be calling on the National Security Advisor Samuel Berger.