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March 25, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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USA “to review” sanctions Washington, March 24 US Secretary of State Colin Powell has assured Indian Ambassador Lalit Mansingh that sanctions imposed against India after its May, 1998, Pokhran nuclear tests are under review, but gave no indication when they would be lifted. Kashmir dominates rights panel
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| Spy dispute not to hit ties with Russia, says Bush Washington, March 24 The USA has said the worst Russian spy scandal since the Cold War would not derail relations between the former East-West rivals. Taking in stride a Kremlin order to withdraw 50 US diplomats in retaliation for a similar move by Washington, the U.S. administration said it wanted to move on. US President endorses
Annan’s second term
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USA “to review” sanctions Washington, March 24 Mr Mansingh, who met with Mr Powell at the State Department to present a copy of his letter of credence, said: “We briefly touched upon sanctions, (and) I expressed our viewpoints on the sanctions.” He said Mr Powell, informed him “the whole issue of sanctions was under review. We did not go into the time (frame), but he said the entire issue of ...sanctions imposed on India, would be reviewed.” Mr Mansingh, who was briefing Indian correspondents immediately following his 30-minute meeting with Mr Powell, said they also discussed the forthcoming visit of External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh. “The Secretary of State said he was keenly looking forward to the visit and said he would like to discuss with him (Mr Jaswant Singh) a whole range of bilateral relations.” The envoy said he had expressed his appreciation to Mr Powell for having received him at such an early date after his arrival on March 14, as well as for the invitation extended to Mr Jaswant Singh, “which reflected the importance attached by both sides to their relationship.” Mr Powell is slated to host Mr Jaswant Singh at a working luncheon on April 6, which will kick off a series of high-level meetings between both sides as envisioned under the vision statement signed between former President Bill Clinton and Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee during Mr Clinton’s visit to India in March, 2000, and Mr Vajpayee’s reciprocal visit to the USA in September. Mr Jaswant Singh, who also holds the Defence portfolio, will also meet with Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, but a meeting with President George W. Bush is not on the cards. Mr Mansingh said he also suggested to Mr Powell that he should visit India “at an early date” and he recalled that he had been to India two years ago on a very brief visit for two days or so.” “I am sure that in due course he will be visiting India,” Mr Mansingh predicted. He said his discussions with Mr Powell largely centered on “the way Indo-US relations have evolved in the recent past and the outlook for the future.” “The Secretary of State clearly reiterated the policy of President Bush to build on the good work done in the past and to expand relations with India, he said adding that Mr Powell himself had emphasised that he was “committed to this process.” “In my very brief expose, I pointed out that our relations today are the best they’ve ever been and assured him of our very keen desire to build on the momentum that has been established,” Mr Mansingh said. He said he had also expressed appreciation “for the contacts that have been established between our Prime Minister and President Bush” from the time of his call to Mr Vajpayee in September last year in New York while Mr Bush was still a presidential candidate, and thereafter to offer sympathies over the devastating earthquake in Gujarat on January 26, during which they had also briefly discussed the blossoming ties between Washington and New Delhi. Mr Mansingh said Mr Powell told him he had “been fully briefed and he had keenly followed the developments of the past year.” Mr Mansingh, who was accompanied to the meeting by deputy chief of mission Alok Prasad, said Mr Powell was “extremely cordial,” “gracious and expansive” and at the end of their discussions “with great courtesy” rode down the elevator with him “and saw me off at the car.”
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Kashmir dominates rights panel meeting Geneva, March 24 As many as eight representatives of various non-governmental organisations (NGOs), including Europe-based Kashmir separatist leaders, expressed their views when the commission took up for discussion the “right of people to self-determination and its application to people under colonial or alien domination or foreign occupation”. Representatives of the Indian and Pakistani Government clashed several times on the issue with New Delhi blaming Islamabad for inciting and fomenting trouble in Kashmir, and showing no response to resumption of a dialogue by stopping cross-border terrorism. Initiating the discussion on the issue, Mohammed Mumtaz Khan of the International Institute for Peace said the “UN resolutions as per its definition do not meet the criteria of self-determination since its scope is limited. It denies the majority of people their right to determine their own future.” He said Kashmir being a multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-cultural state was a symbol of communal harmony, but the religious zealots had destroyed the character. Barrister Abdul Majid Tramboo, Executive Director of the International Council for Human Rights, urged the commission to establish an office of the high commissioner for self-determination, besides the self-determination commission, which should consist of representatives of the member-states of the UN. Referring to the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, he said the civil conflict was causing socio-economic destruction and loss of life. But Sardar Shaoukat Ali Kashmiri of the EU of Public Relations accused Pakistan of bringing miseries to the people of the state. He said Pakistan had illegally ceded 4,000 km of disputed territory to China in 1963 and its regime had denied basic democratic rights to the people of the PoK for several decades. It had also imposed a constitution, which was a clear proof of enslavement of the people of the areas. London-based separatist leader Altaf Hussain Qadri of the World Muslim League demanded initiation of the political process with the Kashmiri leadership for an early resolution of the dispute. He also urged the commission to send its observers to Jammu and Kashmir to monitor the human rights situation there. The Indian Government representatives accused Islamabad of scuttling all peaceful moves to resolve the bilateral problems, and said Pakistan was primarily responsible for the current situation in Kashmir.
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Pak frees activists following criticism Islamabad, March 24 Officials here said barring 22 persons, who were charged with offences like throwing stones and burning tyres, all others had been freed. The released leaders included Mr Javed Hashmi, the acting president of the deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (PML). The police also lifted the siege of Nawabzada Nasurllah Khan, the president of the umbrella organisation Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD), who has been put under house arrest since yesterday. Mr Hashmi, while addressing newsmen at the time of his arrest yesterday, said: “The movement for the restoration of democracy will continue and we are all geared up to achieve our goal”. The PML and another major political party, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, are the main constituents of the ARD which had called the rally to overthrow the military regime headed by Gen Pervez Musharraf. The rally failed to take place with the police arresting over 150 protesters when they attempted to go to the Moch gate at Lahore which was the venue of the rally. The venue too was blocked with heavy barbed wire fencing.
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Genocide suspect handed over to tribunal The Hague, March 24 Milomir Stakic, accused of helping in the setting up of notorious Bosnian detention camps in 1992 and 1993, was indicted along with two other war crimes suspects, both now dead, tribunal spokesman Jim Landale said yesterday. “He has been transferred by the authorities in Belgrade,” said Mr Landale. Stakic, charged on one count of genocide, arrived in The Hague yesterday. Serb Media said Stakic, 39, had been arrested on Thursday and one report said the arrest had been made in Belgrade. Yugoslavia has been under huge pressure to cooperate with the tribunal by transferring war crimes suspects to The Hague for trial. Washington had threatened Belgrade with economic sanctions unless it started cooperating by March 31. UN chief prosecutor Carla Del Ponte made clear in a statement that this was the cooperation she had been crying out for. “This is the first concrete sign of cooperation. I am satisfied and hope that this will continue and that all accused living on the territory of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia will be handed over in the near future,” she said. Serbia’s Interior Ministry in a statement said the Yugoslav Justice Ministry had requested two non-Yugoslavs, one of them Stakic, be extradited to The Hague Tribunal. It was not clear who the second person might be. “There are no legal obstacles for the extradition of foreign citizens and we have to respect international obligations signed by the Milosevic regime even if it is not pleasant,” Yugoslav Interior Minister Zoran Zivkovic said.
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Spy dispute not to hit ties with Russia, says Bush Washington, March 24 Taking in stride a Kremlin order to withdraw 50 US diplomats in retaliation for a similar move by Washington, the U.S. administration said it wanted to move on. President George W. Bush suggested that he would not retaliate in turn and he believed Washington and Moscow could have “good, strong” relations and discuss their disagreements openly. Mr Bush told reporters that he had not telephoned Russian President Vladimir Putin about the expulsions and White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Mr Bush considered the matter closed. “They can make whatever decisions they deem necessary. Our country took the right course of action,” Mr Bush said during a visit to Portland, Maine. He said his action sent Moscow the message that he would be “firm and consistent”. Asked if he planned to speak to Mr Putin before their planned face-to-face meeting at the G8 summit in Italy this summer, Mr Bush replied: “Maybe, I’m not sure yet.” Earlier, the White House sought to draw a line under the affair, the biggest spy scandal since the Cold War. President now considers the matter closed,” Mr Fleischer said. The tit-for-tat expulsions, in the wake of
FBI agent Robert Hanssen’s arrest last month on charges of spying for Russia, should not prevent a meeting between him and Mr Putin, Mr Bush said. Secretary of State Colin Powell also tried to play down the effect the expulsions would have on relations, but he left open the possibility of a U.S. response when Russia names the U.S. diplomats who will have to leave. “We are anxious to get this matter behind this and, as of this moment, as of this afternoon, we still consider it a matter that is behind us, but we haven’t seen the totality of the Russian response yet,” he told reporters. A State Department official said the USA might decide to retaliate if, for example, the Russians put the top U.S. diplomats in Moscow on the expulsion list. Speaking earlier, Mr Powell said Washington told Russia to withdraw the diplomats only because of the Hanssen case and because Russia had too many spies in the country. “We did respond in a way that was measured, realistic, practical, and as far as we are concerned that ended the matter. It was not part of a great scheme. It was a stand-alone problem we had to deal with,” he told the National Newspaper Association at a meeting in a Washington hotel. Mr Powell said he spoke to Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov about the expulsions on Thursday night. “He expressed his view on it in very strong terms, and we will get through this because the world needs a good relationship between Russia and the USA”, he said.
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US President endorses Annan’s second term Washington, March 24 “My administration thinks he is doing an excellent job as the Secretary-General of the United Nations and, therefore, we heartily endorse his second term as the Secretary-General,’’ Mr Bush told reporters yesterday as he stood with Mr Annan outside the Oval Office. Mr Bush said he looked forward to “working not only to make sure you serve a second term, but once that’s done, work closely with you to keep the peace, make the world more prosperous.’’ The Balkans, Iraq, AIDS, and African issues were on the agenda for a subsequent meeting between Mr Annan and Mr Bush, as well as the $ 1.7 billion in back dues and peacekeeping expenses the USA owed to the United Nations.
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