India and Pakistan plan more Peace Talks by The Boston Globe International Herald Tribune 10:53am 8th Jan, 2004   January 7, 2004    Because Pakistan and India are populous nuclear powers that can affect security across a vast tract of the globe, the whole world has reason to cheer their announcement that they plan to resume peace talks in February. Now the rest of the world, and the Bush administration in particular, need to encourage both governments to resolve their dispute over Indian-governed Kashmir — the cause of two wars between them since independence in 1947 — and become peaceful neighbors.    As often happens in complicated national conflicts, the apparent breakthrough this week at a South Asian regional summit meeting in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, was preceded by six months of backstage diplomacy. The handshake Monday between Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee of India and President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan was foreshadowed in the last few months by resumed air and railroad travel between the two countries, a return of ambassadors and a cease-fire in Kashmir. along what is called the Line of Control between the of Kashmir in Pakistan and the area governed by India.    Also behind the scenes, China has been counseling the two antagonists of the Asian subcontinent to patch up their differences once and for all — for the sake of the regional stability Beijing regards as indispensable to its post-Maoist goal of getting rich.    Against this background of a readiness for peacemaking between India and Pakistan, the accumulating evidence that centrifuge technology crucial to the enrichment of uranium was transferred from Pakistan to Iran, Libya, and North Korea represents a security challenge that cannot be countered solely by cajoling or threatening governments.    This clandestine form of nuclear proliferation also underlines the need to create stable conditions for economic growth and democratic evolution, particularly in Pakistan. The longer the conflict with India continues, the easier it will be for extremists to peddle their wares and the harder it will be for a government with popular support to keep nuclear weapons from those who would use them.    Musharraf must now fulfill the promise he made to President George W. Bush after Sept. 11, 2001: to stop transfers of nuclear technology that may have originated with Pakistani nuclear scientists operating on their own. In recent days some of those scientists, including Abdul Qadeer Khan, known as the father of Pakistan’s nuclear bomb, have been questioned by government officials. Musharraf has to get control of Khan’s laboratory and put Pakistan out of the uranium enrichment wholesale business.    The pursuit of peace with India and the prevention of nuclear proliferation belong to one and the same struggle for survival.    6 January, 2003. (United Nations News Service).    'Wonderful news' coming out of India-Pakistan talks.    United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today hailed progress being made towards improved relations in South Asia after the leaders of India and Pakistan held summit talks early this week.    "I think it is wonderful news, what is coming out of Islamabad, and I am extremely happy that the talks are taking place," the Secretary-General told reporters at UN Headquarters in New York. He voiced confidence that Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee of India and President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan "will find the statesmanship and the leadership and the wisdom to move the process forward."    Looking to the broader context, Mr. Annan stressed that "improved relations between the two countries would mean a lot for the region, not just in terms of reducing political tensions, but also in economic and social terms, and it would be beneficial to all the smaller countries in the region."    "I am really excited with the developments, and I applaud the two leaders for the actions that they have taken," he added. Visit the related web page
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