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Bush, Putin spar over Russian democracy
Aziz wants to give peace a
chance
Kargil was lesson to Indians: Pervez
Pervez confirms govt in contact with Benazir
Colombo, February 25 Sri Lanka’s ruling alliance lost its majority in Parliament today after a Tamil political party withdrew its support, putting the country into a state of political uncertainty as it grapples to recover from the Asian tsunami. |
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Indian envoy meets King’s deputies
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Bush, Putin spar over Russian democracy
Bratislava (Slovakia), February 25 Bush stood side-by-side with Putin at an often-tense joint news conference following their summit in this Balkan capital and said he had expressed his ‘‘concerns’’ to the Russian leader ‘‘in a constructive and friendly way.’’ But he continued to press Putin publicly, saying, ‘‘democracies have certain things in common: They have a rule of law and protection of minorities, a free press and a viable political opposition,’’ Bush said. Putin offered general assurances on democracy but offered no specific pledges to alter his style of governance, which has been criticised by key US officials, lawmakers and others as increasingly authoritarian. Since becoming President in 2000, Putin has imposed more controls on the media, parliament and the legal system, and he has ended the direct election of regional governors. ‘‘Russia has made its choice in favour of democracy. This is our final choice, and we have no way back,’’ Putin said. But he cautioned that the adoption of democracy should not cause the ‘‘collapse of the state and the impoverishment of the people,’’ adding ‘‘democracy is not anarchy.’’ The discussion of the state of Russia’s democracy dominated the public remarks of the two leaders, overshadowing their agreements on such matters as upgrading security at Russia's nuclear plants, establishing a programme to keep nuclear fuel from being diverted to use in atomic weapons, and enhancing controls to prevent terrorists from acquiring shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles. The two leaders also said they agreed that both North Korea and Iran should not be allowed to possess nuclear weapons. They made no mention of US displeasure at Russia’s involvement in helping Iran construct nuclear power facilities. Thursday's session was the 13th meeting between Bush and Putin, and it ran about 45 minutes longer than planned. In an unusual arrangement, the two leaders met for more than an hour, accompanied only by their interpreters. Then they continued for about 75 minutes, each accompanied by a squad of top aides. In their post-summit news conference, both emphasised their personal rapport, saying that they feel free to speak candidly with one another, and to disagree. ‘‘Some of the (President's) ideas that I heard from my partner I respect a lot,’’ Putin said. ‘‘And I believe that some of his ideas could be taken into account in my work, and I will pay due attention to them, that’s for sure. Some other ideas, I will not comment on. Thank you.’’ Bush did not discuss what penalties, if any, he would support if he believed Russia failed to make good on its commitment to
democracy. — By arrangement with LA Times-Washington Post |
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Aziz wants to give peace a
chance
Islamabad, February 25 Speaking on “A Vision for South Asia” at the India Today Conclave, through videoconferencing from Islamabad, he said: “We are still caught in the vicious cycle,” but the ultimate aim of both countries should be to ensure “a better, more prosperous and more secure future for our people.” While Aziz was prepared to give “peace a chance,” he was not prepared to leave out the Kashmir rhetoric. “Kashmiris have been denied their fundamental right of self-determination,” said Aziz, while saying the “Kashmir issue is not about territories or ideologies.” “The temptation to bracket the issue as a subject of the larger global problem of terrorism may be at best disingenuous and at worst, dangerous,” said Mr Aziz. Justifying the separatist movement in Jammu and Kashmir as “freedom struggle,” in the same vein as any other Pakistani leader has been saying all along, Mr Aziz said: “To dismiss the entire Kashmiri freedom struggle as ‘cross-border terrorism’ is an over-simplification”. The Pakistani Prime Minister who spoke of the European experience wishfully said that India and Pakistan should try to “reach a similar level of unity without being forced to learn these lessons through further trials of fire and cataclysmic conflict.” Mr Aziz, who began with his speech with a focus on economic diplomacy, felt that “South Asia has the potential to become one of the major centres of economic power in the world.” But unfortunately, the region was till in search of “an elusive peace”, lamented Mr Aziz.
— ANI |
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Kargil was lesson to Indians: Pervez
Islamabad, February 25 The General, widely regarded as the architect of Pakistan’s aggression in Kargil from where it was forced to pull back its troops, has expressed the view that the “much-trumpeted” bus journey of the then Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was followed by the “Kargil operation with all its reality and distortions.” “It (Kargil operation) proved a lesson to the Indians and a rude awakening to the world of the reality of Kashmir,” he says in a potted autobiography on his newly inaugurated website www.presidentofpakistan.gov.pk.
— PTI |
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Pervez confirms govt in contact with Benazir
Islamabad, February 25 ‘‘We need to discourage extremist elements by working with moderate political parties, including the PPP, especially to have some agreement beyond 2007,’’ he said. Speaking at a news conference at the President House on Thursday, he confirmed Information Minister Sheikh Rashid’s repeated statements that the government was in touch with the PPP to hammer out some sort of an agreement about the future political set-up of the country. ‘‘But let me clarify that we are not discussing with the PPP whether new elections will be held in 2005 or 2007,’’ the President said and added that election was not the subject of discussion with the PPP. He said extremist forces were out to take the country back to the dark ages which needed to be checked with the support of all moderate political parties and forces of the country. In reply to a question about the sacking of a provincial minister on corruption charges by the Chief Minister of Sindh, Gen Musharraf said it was the right of the Chief Minister of Sindh to take action against his minister to discourage corrupt practices in the government. According to the chief minister, he said, there was rampant corruption in the revenue department of the province. ‘‘But I hope the Prime Minister’s inspection team that has been deputed for the task, would dig the truth,’’ the President said. ‘‘This is an administrative issue and we should not make any hue and cry over it,’’ he said, rejecting assertions that the Centre was interfering in the affairs of Sindh by allowing the Prime Minister’s inspection team to probe into the corruption issue. He said the Centre was not violating any provisions of the provincial autonomy over the latest corruption issue in Sindh. He advised the MMA leadership to accept the rule of the majority in the largest interest of the country and avoid indulging in the politics of agitation. |
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Lankan ruling alliance loses
majority in Parliament
Colombo, February 25 The Ceylon Workers Congress, which has eight seats in the 225-member legislature, said it was joining the Opposition because of unspecified disagreements with President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s government. The move left the ruling alliance with 111 seats. Though the loss weakens the government, it is unlikely to cause its downfall. However, the alliance could collapse if its key partner, the Marxist People’s Liberation Front, follows through on a threat it made yesterday to also withdraw because of a dispute over the peace process with the Tamil rebels. “We have resigned from the government,” R. Yogarajan, a senior member of the Ceylon Workers Congress, said. He said the decision to quit was prompted by “the government’s failure to implement certain agreements and programmes.”
— AP |
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Indian envoy meets King’s deputies
Kathmandu, February 25 Mr Mukherjee met Vice-Chairmen of the Council of Ministers Tulsi Giri and Kirtinidhi Bista yesterday at their offices separately. They discussed bilateral issues and matters of mutual interests, a government official said, adding this was just a courtesy call by the Indian envoy. He did not give details of the meetings.
— PTI |
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Responding to a challenge from President Bush, Russian President Vladimir V. Putin said on Thursday that his nation is irrevocably committed to democracy but complained that his critics lack a ‘‘full understanding of what is taking
place' in his country.
