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Terrorism emanating from Pak must end: Blackwill
Silicon Valley (US), Jan 19: Welcoming Indo-Pak diplomatic parleys, US ambassador to India Robert Blackwill has said first there has to be an end to terrorism emanating from Pakistan.
Silicon Valley (US), Jan 19: Welcoming Indo-Pak diplomatic parleys, US ambassador to India Robert Blackwill has said first there has to be an end to terrorism emanating from Pakistan.
Asserting that the war against international terror cannot be won without an end to cross-border terrorism in India, the US today said it supported diplomatic dialogue between New Delhi and Islamabad but Washington "is not going to mediate" to resolve the Kashmir issue.
"Working with dozens of like-minded nations, the United
States and India will win the war on terrorism. That war will not be won unless terrorism against India is ended once and for all," US ambassador to India Robert Blackwill said addressing the 50th anniversary celebration of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT).
US supported diplomatic dialogue between India and
Pakistan, but first there had to be an end to cross-border terrorism, he said, adding Kashmir issue, which was the key to flowering Indo-Pak relations, must be addressed peacefully.
"But that can only be done in a situation in which the
terrible acts of terrorist violence that characterise Jammu and Kashmir stop," the ambassador said in his keynote address.
"The Line of Control cannot be changed by violence. On the contrary, in the absence of a jointly agreed Indo-Pakistani alternative, everyone should ensure that there is continued sanctity of the Line of Control," he said.
When asked what role US could play in improving Indo-Pak relations, he said Washington was of the firm belief that Indo-Pak differences have to be solved by them and not the US.
For its part, Blackwill said, the US would continue to urge Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf to do everything in his power to end permanently terrorist infiltration into Jammu and Kashmir.
He said some people were of the view that when identifying terrorists, there was a need to consider history, circumstances and other subtleties.
"To the contrary I say that defeating terrorism for the United States and India is not subtle. It is a matter of survival for ourselves, for our democratic values, for our religious freedom, for our children, for everything we hold dear," Blackwill said.
"Let us please name those for what they are who murder innocent for political motives and who seek to bring down the very pillars of democracy - in New York, in Washington, at the assembly in Srinagar, at the parliament in New Delhi.
"These murderers are not misunderstood ideals, they are not disadvantaged dissidents, they are not religious perfectionists and they, most assuredly, are not freedom fighters. They are terrorists and we should be careful always to call them exactly that," the ambassador said.
Bureau Report
"The Line of Control cannot be changed by violence. On the contrary, in the absence of a jointly agreed Indo-Pakistani alternative, everyone should ensure that there is continued sanctity of the Line of Control," he said.
When asked what role US could play in improving Indo-Pak relations, he said Washington was of the firm belief that Indo-Pak differences have to be solved by them and not the US.
For its part, Blackwill said, the US would continue to urge Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf to do everything in his power to end permanently terrorist infiltration into Jammu and Kashmir.
He said some people were of the view that when identifying terrorists, there was a need to consider history, circumstances and other subtleties.
"To the contrary I say that defeating terrorism for the United States and India is not subtle. It is a matter of survival for ourselves, for our democratic values, for our religious freedom, for our children, for everything we hold dear," Blackwill said.
"Let us please name those for what they are who murder innocent for political motives and who seek to bring down the very pillars of democracy - in New York, in Washington, at the assembly in Srinagar, at the parliament in New Delhi.
"These murderers are not misunderstood ideals, they are not disadvantaged dissidents, they are not religious perfectionists and they, most assuredly, are not freedom fighters. They are terrorists and we should be careful always to call them exactly that," the ambassador said.
Bureau Report