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Copyright 2000 The Hindu 
THE HINDU

May 26, 2000

LENGTH: 315 words

HEADLINE: U.S.-Pak. relations normal: Musharraf

BYLINE: AMIT BARUAH

BODY:


ISLAMABAD, MAY 25. On a day when the U.S. Under-Secretary of State, Mr. Thomas Pickering, arrived in Pakistan for talks on the entire gamut of bilateral, regional and non-proliferation issues, the Chief Executive, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, said that U.S.- Pakistan relations remained "as they were".

At a press conference, he said that the U.S. remained engaged with Pakistan and was facilitating in the reduction of tensions along the Line of Control (LoC) and in Kashmir.

Mr. Pickering is here for talks with the Pakistani Foreign Secretary, Mr. Inam-ul-Haq, beginning tomorrow and will also meet the Foreign Minister, Mr. Abdul Sattar. It is still not clear whether he will call on the Chief Executive.

The visit is the first by an American since the March 25 visit of the President, Mr. Bill Clinton, in which he did some plainspeaking to the Government and the people through an address on State-run television. Soon after the Clinton visit, several Ministers in the Musharraf Government as well as the ISI Chief, Gen. Mehmood Ahmed, visited Washington.

So far, there is no evidence to suggest that Pakistan has used its influence on the Taliban to ensure the handing over of the Saudi-born rebel, Osama bin Laden, or rein in the militant groups that operate from its soil.

During his press conference today, Gen. Musharraf was at pains to emphasise that Pakistan had not compromised on its national interests in relation to foreign policy. On CTBT, he said Pakistan was still awaiting a national consensus. His was the first Pakistani Government to state that what Kashmir was witnessing was not terrorism, but a "people's uprising".

On Afghanistan, Gen. Musharraf stated that it was imperative that the Pakhtoons were on "our (Pakistan's) side" and that the Taliban represented the Pakhtoons. "Our national interests have not been compromised," he maintained.