India stopped from buying Iranian gas: Secy Rice
Pakistan Times Monitoring Report

ISLAMABAD: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said the US wants long-term friendship with Pakistan.

Talking to state-run television on Thursday, Rice said such a phase had come in the history of relations of Washington and Islamabad when they did not remain warmer.

During the Cold War period, the US had failed to establish deeper ties with Pakistan, she added.

She said Pakistan had as much part as the US in the establishment of present close cordial and friendly relations between the two countries.

She said she held talks with the Pakistani leadership on a number of issues, including the country’s economic situation as well as reforms and promotion of foreign investment there.

Besides this, her country was also interested in reforms in the education sector in Pakistan, she said.

Of the Topics

She stated that besides Kashmir and other issues, she also took up the matter of democratic reforms in Pakistan. She said President Pervez Musharraf and his advisors had introduced reforms in many sectors but democracy had pivotal position.

Meanwhile, in an interview with a private television channel, Condoleezza Rice said she did not believe in the ideology of clash of civilizations. She said President George Bush had a keen desire to visit Pakistan and India, and he would definitely come there.

About Iran, she claimed that the country was interfering in the internal affairs of its neighbours, saying the US had not only barred India but also Japan from buying Iranian gas.

She said the forthcoming visit by President Musharraf to India to watch a cricket match would certainly help further improve ties between Pakistan and India.

She stated that she took up Pakistan’s political situation with President Musharraf, adding education reforms were in the best interest of Pakistan.

The US Secretary of State claimed that Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden had been deprived of his capability to move in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of NWFP.

US seeks military balance in S. Asia

The United States’ security and defence cooperation with the nations of South Asia is aimed at ensuring a peaceful balance of power in the region, according to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

‘We want very much for there to be a military balance in the region that preserves peace,’ Ms. Rice told NDTV’s Shirvaj Prasad in an interview Wednesday, a transcript of which was posted on the State Department’s website.

‘We take note of the warming relations between India and Pakistan, very good for South Asia, very good for the entire region, very good for the world.’

Rice said that the United States has worked hard to keep its relationship with India separate from its relationship with Pakistan and the United States is concerned with the well-being of both countries.

‘[W]e want to be supportive in any way that we can of a comprehensive dialogue between India and Pakistan,’ she added.

Praises Musharraf

Rice praised President Pervez Musharraf’s efforts to root out extremism in his country and reform the Pakistani educational system, but added, ‘we do expect there to be a democratic path for Pakistan.’

Rice also spoke of the need for Nepal’s King Gyanendra to restore the democratic process in his country. ‘There needs to be a return to democracy in Nepal. And, as a great democracy, India along with the United States, really must stand for exactly that,’ she said. She said the United States and India have had excellent cooperation in addressing the Nepali situation.

Rice said that she does not expect democracy, whether in South Asia or the Middle East, to be ‘American style.’

‘[T]he important thing is that there be systems that respect human dignity, that respect the rule of law, that respect the right to say what you wish and worship as you please. And that can take many different forms,’ she said.

Iraq

Responding to a question about Iraq, Rice said the United States and India have put aside their differences over the war, and she added that everyone now agrees ‘a stable, democratic Iraq in the heart of the Arab world, will be good for everyone.’

She said that India has already contributed to the Iraqi people and that she will continue to talk with the Indian leadership about ways they might support the reconstruction of Iraq.

When NDTV’s Prasad pushed his line on democracy in Pakistan, the following exchange took place:

PRASAD: But there is a perception here that America remains soft on President Musharraf and Pakistan. He’s still not really adhered to the various promises he’s made about the restoration of democracy. Can we see some U.S. pressure on President Musharraf for restoration of democracy in Pakistan?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, President Bush has said that he intends to make democracy a part of the dialogue with every country, friend and foe. And certainly, we expect more of our friends. We have to say that President Musharraf has done a lot to root out extremism in his own country, to start to reform education. But we do expect there to be a democratic path for Pakistan, and I hope that we’ll have a chance to have that discussion.

PRASAD: Musharraf two days ago in a BBC interview said that he might have lost the trail to Osama bin Laden. Does that concern you?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, certainly, we would all like to find Osama bin Laden. That is something that — everybody looks forward to the day that you get that phone call. But we also have to look at the progress that we’ve made. More than three-quarters of Al-Qaeda’s leadership has either been killed or captured.

Many of their top field generals like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed or Abu Zubaida are captured. Pakistan was very much a part of that, indeed instrumental in helping to have that happen. The Pakistanis are fighting now in the frontier areas in ways that they never did before.

So while it may be a while, I can never tell you when we are going to find Osama bin Laden, his world is getting smaller, Al-Qaeda’s world is getting more difficult, and that’s what we need to concentrate on. ●