Skip to main content

Some positive steps by Pak., but not enough: Rice

WASHINGTON: Pakistan has taken some "positive steps" after the Mumbai terror attacks for which India has blamed a Pakistan-based group but "they are not nearly enough", according to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

During her recent visit to the region to show solidarity with India and ask Pakistan to deal with the terror groups operating from its territory, she found that civilians "were very much in charge and making decisions", Rice said at an event here.

"It's a new civilian government just finding its footing in Pakistan. But it seemed to me that the civilians were very much in charge and making decisions," she said when asked if the civilian government in Pakistan has control over its military, security forces and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

"And thus far, we've seen some positive steps, though they're not nearly enough at this point," she said at the event at the Council on Foreign Relations, according to a transcript released by the State Department on Saturday.

Rice said she "didn't hear a different line from the military and from the civilians".

Rice said after the Mumbai attack "it was obviously a very serious situation and the president (George Bush) wanted me to go and to express our solidarity with India and condolences there".

The top US diplomat said she had to also "deliver a very strong message that, of course, Americans had also died in that attack. And so this was also of concern to the United States."

Rice noted that since the 2001 crisis over Kashmir, the US "has developed a very strong relationship with India".

"It has broadened and deepened, and I do think it has helped us through this crisis, because there's a level of trust with India that I think was not there in 2001 when we had to get through the military mobilisation that attended the crisis in Kashmir," she said.

The US also has a good relationship with the new civilian government in Pakistan, Rice said, "But there, the message had to be, you need to deal with the terrorism problem."

In reply to a question about a drop in America's standing internationally, Rice differed, saying: "I think I could also note that in some of the most populous countries in the world - China, India, and Vietnam - America's standing has never been higher."

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

India's swine flu death rate is increasing

Friday, August 14, 2009 MUMBAI: A 26-year-old woman died Thursday of H1N1 swine flu in the southern city of Bangalore, raising India's death toll from the virus to 20, authorities said.The death was the first reported in India's information technology capital, the Press Trust of India reported.Meanwhile in Pune, the worst-affected in India, two more victims of the virus died Thursday, raising the death toll in that western city near Mumbai to 12, the report said. The victims were an 11-month-old boy and a 75-year-old old woman.US media reported movie halls, schools and colleges were ordered closed Thursday for three days to a week in Mumbai, the commercial and financial capital of the country, as fear of the pandemic spread.Prajakata Lavangare, a spokeswoman for the government of Maharashtra state of which Mumbai is the capital, said similar orders were issued in Pune, which is also located in the state.The woman who died in Bangalore was identified only as Roopa, a teacher in...
Post a Comment
Read more

Tennis: Clijsters wins US Open, second time

NEW YORK: Kim Clijsters of Belgium won the US Open on Sunday by defeating Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark 7-5, 6-3 in the final.She is the first mother to win a Grand Slam title since Evonne Goolagong in 1980, the victory coming just five weeks after she returned to the sport following a 27-month retirement. She was the first wildcard, man or woman, to win a US Open title in the history of the tournament.
Post a Comment
Read more

42 killed in wave of Iraq bombings

BAGHDAD: At least 42 people were killed and nearly 100 wounded in a spate of bomb attacks near the restive northern Iraqi city of Mosul and in the capital Baghdad on Monday, police said. In the deadliest single attack, two booby-trapped lorries exploded before dawn in the village of Khaznah, east of Mosul, leaving 25 people dead and 70 others wounded. Thirty-five houses were destroyed in the village, which is home to members of the tiny Shabak community, a sect of Kurdish origin. In Baghdad, two car bombs went off as day labourers were gathering in the early morning hours looking for jobs.The first bomb exploded at Hay al-Amel, in the west of the capital, killing nine people and injuring 46. The second bomb attack in Shurta Arbaa in the north of the city killed seven people and wounded 35 others.
Post a Comment
Read more