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06 January 2004

U.S. Praises Indian-Pakistani Announcement of Talks

State's Boucher welcomes results of South Asian regional conference

State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher said the announcement that Indian and Pakistani leaders will meet in February to discuss the controversy over Jammu and Kashmir is "a historic development."

The United States, he said, has been supportive of moves towards the dialogue, which came as a result of "acts of statesmanship" by the Pakistani and Indian leaders. Boucher was speaking at the January 6 State Department briefing in Washington.

Boucher also congratulated the conferees at the recently concluded summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation in Islamabad, where regional representatives agreed upon a framework to develop a free trade association, a plan of action to increase poverty alleviation, and signed an additional protocol on combating terrorism.

Boucher said the dialogue between India and Pakistan will create new opportunities for closer regional cooperation, "whether it be in the trade area, [or] the fighting of terrorism."

Following is an excerpt from the January 6 State Department briefing:

(begin excerpt)

QUESTION: Richard, what's your assessment of an apparent rapprochement between India and Pakistan calling for new talks next month?

MR. BOUCHER: The Secretary spoke to this to some extent already, outside. And I think it's important to remember what he said, that it is a historic development and one that, I think, has been in the works for some time. It's been taken through a series of acts of statesmanship, decisions made by India and Pakistan. We have been very supportive of that process and we look forward to continuing to work with them and help them as they go forward into a dialogue.

It's a goal that we have long supported, long sought. We think it's important for regional stability. It's important for the whole world. I would add to that that there are also ramifications for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. They've had, now, the very successful summit in Islamabad and we congratulate the conferees for that.

They agreed to a framework to develop South Asia Free Trade Association, adopted a plan of action on increasing property alleviation and signed an additional protocol on combating terrorism. So they're, I think, the dialogue, discussions between India and Pakistan also open up opportunities, whether it be in the trade area or the fighting of terrorism for the region as a whole to cooperate even more closely.

QUESTION: Do you have any reason to believe that these, these upcoming talks will be any more successful than previous rounds that have failed in the past?

MR. BOUCHER: We certainly have seen the parties announce steps, take steps and really move forward in concrete ways just to get to this point of announcing a dialogue.

We've been very supportive of that process and we continue to support it so that the dialogue on all the issues --

QUESTION: Right.

MR. BOUCHER: -- can produce as many results as possible.

QUESTION: Right. But previous dialogue has been, also, anteceded -- or --

MR. BOUCHER: Preceded.

QUESTION: Preceded by similar steps and they haven't worked. It's -- the -- you're not aware of anything that would lead you to be more optimistic that these would, that there would be actual results from this dialogue?

MR. BOUCHER: I -- it's always hard to predict results on a particular issue given the difficulty of these questions. At the same time, we have seen the leaders themselves put a lot of effort into getting to this point. We have seen them take concrete and practical steps. We have seen them create a momentum. We have seen what we would call "acts of statesmanship." And we have also seen supportive roles that we can play, that other countries can play in trying to help them continue to move forward. So we think they have shown, already, a fair amount of determination to move forward and we think that will likely continue.

(end excerpt)

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