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Friday,
June 22, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Restore democracy: USA Washington, June 21 American officials said the development might delay moves to lift sanctions against Islamabad that were imposed after General Musharraf seized power in a bloodless coup in October,1999. Administration sources said Secretary of State Colin Powell felt “blindsided” and “angry” yesterday because Pakistan Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar had a day earlier outlined Islamabad’s plans to return to civilian rule. “It made him (Powell) look foolish because only yesterday he was saying how happy he was by Sattar’s report talking about a return to democracy,” the source said late last night. According to sources, Mr Powell and top US officials felt “so betrayed” because Sattar had kicked off his 90-minute meeting and luncheon by declaring that Pakistan would hold elections next year. They said General Musharraf’s decision would “certainly complicate” Washington’s consideration in lifting any of the multiple layers of sanctions imposed on Islamabad by the USA. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said General Musharraf’s move to dissolve “the elected assemblies and to appoint himself President severely undermines Pakistan’s constitutional order. They cast Pakistan as a country ruled by decree rather than by democratic process.” He said: “Sattar did not inform us of this development.” With regard “to the development itself, I would say that we are very concerned and we are very disappointed that Pakistan has taken another turn away from democracy rather than, as we had hoped, a step toward democracy.” He warned Islamabad that it “should understand that US sanctions imposed because of the military coup (when Musharraf seized power in 1999) cannot be lifted until the (US) President determines that a democratically elected government has taken office. “We urge the Government of Pakistan to move quickly towards genuine restoration of democracy through free and fair national elections and we will watch closely on what steps the government might take.” Ironically, the harshest-ever censuring of the Musharraf regime came about while its Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar was still in town trying to create goodwill for his boss. The strong statement came a day after Secretary of State Powell’s tacit caution to the military regime about keeping the promised electoral process on track. Despite the strong US reaction, US official sources, when engaged in private, say the Bush Administration may not mind General Musharraf’s elevation as long as the electoral road map is not disturbed. But the Bush Administration wants to ensure that this should not be used as a pretext to change the electoral plan. Observers say Mr Powell’s statement may have been a warning that General Musharraf’s elevation should not be construed as an alternative to elections. The feeling in Washington is that there will be a strong reaction if General Musharraf tries to legitimise his rule through referendum or some other tactics, a la Zia-ul-Haq. However, the question remains what would constitute democracy for the USA. Mr Sattar has said he didn’t know about General Musharraf’s plans to become President and to dissolve the suspended assemblies until late on Tuesday.
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India maintains stoic
silence New Delhi, June 21 With two countries only yesterday agreeing to refrain from rhetoric having an impact on the political forces and not indulging in scoring debating points through the media, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) here refused to be drawn into the controversy directly although it maintained that India would be part of any decision which the Commonwealth might take. New Delhi desisted from offering any comments about Gen Musharraf elevating himself as President of Pakistan. While not wanting to dissociate itself from the reactions around the world, India refrained from offering any comments which might cast a shadow over the next month’s summit. India, apparently taken by surprise at the sudden move made by Gen Musharraf yesterday, was clearly letting the world, led by the USA and Britain, do the talking. Reacting to specific questions over the issue the MEA spokesperson here said: “At this moment we are not in a position to comment”. While Britain had yesterday itself expressed its opposition to Gen Musharraf’s move, the USA today reacted angrily to the developments in Pakistan. Describing it as another turn away from the democracy, the USA clearly said that sanctions against it would not be lifted till an elected government was in place. However, in New Delhi the feeling was that there was too much at stake at the moment and any comments could have an impact not only on the relations but also on the summit. “The core issue is India-Pakistan relations as far as we go,” commented the MEA spokesperson while adding, “we have to deal with the government of the day”. There was on the other hand caution also in the air as India did not seek to pull itself away from its position in Commonwealth while forging new ties with Pakistan.
Britain and the Commonwealth have termed yesterday’s developments in Pakistan as unfortunate and a setback to democracy. “I am not saying that we are dissociating or supporting the Common-wealth,” said the spokesperson. She added that the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group
(CMAG), of which India was not a member, was dealing with the issue of restoration of democracy in Pakistan. The CMAG is scheduled to review the situation in September. When probed further on the issue the spokesperson admitted that as member of the Commonwealth India would be part of any decision that it might take.
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India violating UN charter: Sattar Washington, June 21
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