Kerry: I negoziati India-Pakistan devono continuare
– Kerry, presidente della Commissione per le relazioni estere del Senato Usa, in visita in India e Pakistan: non consentire che il recente attentato terroristico di Pune – India occidentale, 9 vittime e 38 feriti – faccia interrompere i negoziati India-Pakistan, come chiesto dal principale pertito indiano di opposizione, Bharatiya Janata Party.
– Dopo l’attacco del gruppo terroristico Lashkar-e-Taiba a Mumbai del novembre 2008, con oltre 160 vittime, l’India chiese che fosse fatta pressione internazionale perché il Pakistan riconoscesse che l’attacco era stato lanciato da Karachi, e conducesse indagini.
– Jamaat ud Dawa, fronte caritatevole di Lashkar-e-Taiba, ha organizzato raduni anti-India nelle maggiori città pakistane il 5 febbraio, chiamando alla lotta per il territorio disputato del Kashmir. Migliaia i partecipanti, a Lahore, guidati da Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, accusato dall’India di aver organizzato gli attacchi di Mumbai.
Kerry: l’atteggiamento USA verso il Pakistan è di pressione perché combatta i terroristi al suo interno, se vuole continuare a ricevere gli aiuti americani; gli Usa non intendono imporre una propria posizione sul Kashmir.
By PAUL BECKETT
NEW DELHI—The weekend bomb blast in Pune shouldn’t derail the resumption of diplomatic talks between India and Pakistan but should be the first item on the agenda if India finds a Pakistani link to the fatal attack, said U.S. Sen. John Kerry.
– In an interview here, Sen. Kerry, chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the "greatest mistake" in responding to another terror strike that emanated from Pakistan would be for the two sides to give those responsible what they seek to achieve: the subversion of democracy and the rule of law.
"The right thing is to talk; you lose nothing by talking," Sen. Kerry (D., Mass.) said while on a visit to the Indian capital en route to Islamabad. If India finds a Pakistani link to the Pune attack, "I hope India will have that conversation with Pakistan and, if they have evidence to that effect, that should be the first thing on the table and Pakistan has to deal with it," he added.
– Saturday evening’s bomb blast in a German bakery in the western Indian city of Pune, which killed nine and injured 38, served as a pointed reminder of the imminent danger of terrorism in India despite the government’s efforts since the November 2008 Mumbai attacks to beef up national security and to persuade Pakistan to clamp down on terrorist organizations that operate from its soil.
– The Indian government has yet to assign responsibility for the Pune attacks and no group has claimed responsibility. Authorities said Monday investigations were continuing. But suspicion immediately fell on Islamist terrorists
– The Mumbai attacks, which killed more than 160, were launched from Karachi by the banned terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba. In the wake of the attacks, India brought international pressure to bear on Pakistan to acknowledge the attackers hailed from there and to identify and try suspects. But India has been dissatisfied with the response and has repeatedly questioned Pakistan’s commitment to tracking down those responsible.
– Jamaat ud Dawa, Lashkar-e-Taiba’s charitable front, held anti-India rallies in major cities across Pakistan Feb. 5, calling for continuing jihad in the disputed territory of Kashmir.
– Thousands of people wielding toy guns participated in the rally in Lahore led by Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, whom India has accused of masterminding the Mumbai attacks. Mr. Saeed didn’t speak but led the participants in Friday prayers. It was his first appearance in a public rally after being released from house detention in 2009.
– After the Pune attack, India’s main opposition party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, called for the talks between the Indian and Pakistan foreign secretaries—scheduled for Feb. 25 in New Delhi—to be called off.
"Terror and talks can not coexist. When terror threatens India, ‘Not talking’ is a legitimate diplomatic option," said Arun Jaitley, leader of the BJP in India’s upper house of Parliament, in a statement.
– A spokesman for India’s ministry of external affairs reiterated Monday that the talks were scheduled for next week. "We have taken up this discussion keeping in view that it will be on terrorism. Any knee jerk reaction now will not be helpful," he added.
Salman Haidar, a former Indian Foreign Secretary, said India will press even harder to put terrorism on center stage in the talks after the blast in Maharashtra. "The Pune attack dramatizes our concerns. There’s no way the foreign secretaries can meet without talking about it," he said.
– Sen. Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts, said he planned to meet with senior officials in both countries, including Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, as well as Ashfaq Kayani, Pakistan’s chief of military staff.
He said that in his view discussions over Kashmir should not be a "prerequisite" in the initial conversation between the two nations and that the U.S. stands ready to assist either side if asked. But, he said, "I do not think we should impose ourselves in any way."
– He also reiterated the U.S. stance that Pakistan has to do more to combat terrorists on its soil if it wants to continue to receive substantial U.S. aid. "Pakistan has got to make clear its willingness to take on internal enemies," he said.
—Zahid Hussain in Islamabad, Amol Sharma in New Delhi and Arlene Chang in Mumbai contributed to this article.