Powell/Singh Delhi Press Conference

[Guest guest]

Remarks with External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh of India

Secretary Colin L. Powell

New Delhi, India

October 17, 2001

MINISTER SINGH: Ladies and gentlemen of the press, good afternoon.

It's my distinct pleasure to be here with my friend, the Secretary of

State, to meet all of you. I had the pleasure of the occasion to meet

him very recently in Washington on the 2nd of October, and I am

delighted to be able to play host to him since yesterday. He leaves

shortly for Shanghai, but as the Prime Minister informed the

Secretary of State, we are not treating this visit by him as a visit

of the Secretary of State of the United States of America in lieu of

a formal visit.

 

We had, I had, a very cordial, very frank, and very fruitful

discussion with the Secretary of State yesterday where we spent just

under an hour discussing issues together and we had a pleasant supper

together. We covered the entire range of issues, bilateral India, the

United States of America, regional, as also global issues and, of

course, in regional, asked that covering the latest developments in

Afghanistan, particularly on September 11 and thereafter October 2,

came up for considerable extent of mutual discussion.

 

I do want to repeat that what the Prime Minister had said when he

last addressed the Joint Session of the U.S. Congress about India and

the United States of America being natural allies. I treat my friend

Colin's visit as part of the same demonstration. We continue to hold

that September 11 was an assault on freedom, on civilization, on

democracy, and India's stand against terrorism not simply starting

from September 11, even before that, have been unequivocal and we

stand shoulder to shoulder with the international community and the

United States of America in our battle against this global menace.

 

It is my pleasure, ladies and gentlemen, to now request my friend and

guest, the Secretary of State, to share his thoughts with us. And,

thereafter we are in the hands of Nirupama, and you are in her hands.

 

SECRETARY POWELL: Thank you very much, Mr. Minister, for your warm

welcome, and Jaswant, I thank you for your friendship as well. It

means a great deal to me. And I thank you and all of your colleagues,

especially the Prime Minister, for the courtesies extended to me in

this all too brief visit and I look forward to returning at some

future time and spending much more time here in India.

 

As you have noted we are natural allies. Two great democracies who

believe in a common set of values that have served both of our

nations well. President Bush has made it absolutely clear that

transforming a relationship with India and to putting it on a higher

plane is one of his highest priorities. I have found that this view

is entirely shared by Prime Minister Vajpayee and his colleagues as

well.

 

The United States and India have a responsibility as the world's

largest, multi-ethnic democracies to work in close partnership with

each other. The prospects have never been brighter for our

cooperation across a whole range of issues and we have discussed all

of these issues in the past dozen or so hours. President Bush asked

me to come here to discuss the global coalition against terrorism,

and how the United States and India can continue our efforts over the

long haul.

 

As an aside I might mention here and now that we know the Prime

Minister will be coming to the United States for the United Nations

General Assembly meeting in early November, and President Bush has

extended an invitation to the Prime Minister to come to Washington on

the 9th of November for a working visit with the President, and we

look forward to receiving the Prime Minister in Washington on the 9th

of November and I'm also pleased that, of course, that invitation has

been accepted and I can assure you, you will be warmly welcomed, Mr.

Minister.

 

President Bush also asked me to convey his personal thanks to the

Prime Minister for the support we have already received from India

and especially Foreign Minister Singh who has been in the forefront

of developing and presenting those support offers to us over the past

month. We have stood shoulder to shoulder in this fight against

terrorism. Both the United States and India were quick to realize the

attacks of September 11 were attacks on the whole world. Citizens of

some 80 countries were among the victims, including many Indian

citizens who remain among the missing. Our hearts go out to the

families of those here in India who were lost, as do our heartfelt

thanks to the people of India for the outpouring of sympathy we have

received for our own losses in the attacks.

 

I want to make it clear that our focus in Afghanistan now is

eradicating the Al Qaida network, to end the terrorist use of

Afghanistan as a safe haven, to stop the invasion of Afghanistan that

has taken place as a result of the presence of Al Qaida. We will

achieve that goal. President Bush and the international coalition are

determined, and we will persist and we will prevail. Only after the

terrorists are gone can there be a broad-based government in

Afghanistan that represents all elements of Afghan society, brings an

end to fighting, lives in harmony with its neighbors and the

neighborhood that it coexists in, begins the task of reconstruction,

and welcomes the refugees back home.

 

My colleagues here pointed out correctly that the problem of

terrorism is not limited to Afghanistan, and I assured them that our

efforts are directed against all terrorism. The United States and

India are united against terrorism, and that includes the terrorism

that has been directed against India as well. Even before the

September 11 attacks, the United States and India were cooperating

extensively against terrorism. We established a counterterrorism

joint working group last January for example. And now our cooperation

is even more intense.

 

Today, Home Minister Advani and I signed a Mutual Legal Assistance

Treaty that will enhance our fight against crime. Though clearly a

major focus of my trip has been on ways the United States and India

can work together in advancing the international coalition against

terrorism, my talks with the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister and

other officials covered many other important issues as well. We

agreed on the far-reaching importance of the new Indo-U.S.

relationship, which is anchored by the commitment of our leaders and

by the friendship of our peoples. I am confident that our relations,

already improving substantially, are becoming and will become even

stronger. President Bush's waiver of Glenn Amendment Sanctions allows

the United States and India to move forward with broader cooperation

between the two sides.

 

During the course of my visit, I had occasion to discuss President

Bush's new strategic framework, and I briefed the Prime Minister on

our continuing exchanges with Russia on this very, very vital

subject.

 

And we discussed how to promote stability on the subcontinent. In my

talks both here and in Pakistan, I have encouraged the leaders in

both nations to continue their dialogue and to take steps to reduce

tension between them. I leave India for the APEC Ministerial,

confident that the United States and India stand together against the

scourge of international terrorism, strengthened by our shared

democratic values, and ready as never before to work together for

freedom, prosperity, and security in the region and in the world.

 

And finally, once again, my good friend, I thank you for the warm

hospitality you have extended to me. Thank you, Mr. Minister.

 

MODERATOR: Ladies and gentlemen, the Secretary of State and the

External Affairs Minister will now take questions. We will have three

questions from each side. We will begin the first question from the

Indian side and follow that sequence for the American side asking the

second question, and similarly the Indian side and the American side

following.

 

Please indicate to whom you are addressing the question and identify

yourself while asking the question.

 

QUESTION: [ASHOK] SHARMA, AP. How can Pakistan be part of

international effort to combat terrorism? Pakistan has supported

terrorism in Afghanistan and Indian space and still maintains

diplomatic ties with the Taliban. Shouldn't India be attacking

Pakistan going by the logic of the United States of attacking

Afghanistan?

 

FOREIGN MINISTER SINGH: I presume that question is addressed to me.

 

SECRETARY POWELL: You can take it! I would not want to be

inhospitable. If you wish it, it's all yours. (Laughter)

 

I think Pakistan has made it clear in recent weeks that they

recognize the nature of the Taliban regime and they are working with

us to fight against Al Qaida, and they are working with us to see

what kind of government can be put together in a post-Taliban regime.

We deplore terrorism wherever it exists, whether it's the kind of

terrorism we saw on the 11th of September or the kind of terrorism we

saw on the 1st of October in Srinigar. And, we believe that all

nations, who are trying to move forward in a 21st century that I

think will be shaped more and more by democracy and the values of

individual liberty and freedom, can join in this coalition. We

welcome all those who are committed to those principles and are

committed against terrorism.

 

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, George Gedda of AP. You said yesterday in

Pakistan that Kashmir is a central issue between India and Pakistan,

and you also said the aspirations of the Kashmiri people must be

respected. This caused some unease here in India. Do you have any

comment?

 

SECRETARY POWELL: Yes, I didn't say "a central". If you look

carefully, I said "central" in the sense that I believe it's an

important issue and to suggest that it isn't wouldn't have been

accurate. But it's more important to look at the rest of my

statement, where I said we should move forward on the basis of

dialogue, on the basis of efforts to reduce tension, to avoid

violence, and with respect to human rights. I think that is a sound

statement. The issue of Kashmir is one that has to be resolved

between India and Pakistan.

 

The United States is a friend of both of those nations, to the extent

that both nations can find our efforts to be helpful in some way or

another, we will be willing to be helpful. But I think it is more

important to focus on the rest of my statement than that particular

word which has somehow had an article slipped in front of it while I

wasn't looking.

 

QUESTION: (Inaudible). Usama Bin Laden in an interview (inaudible)

claims that the Islamic world helped Pakistan build the nuclear bomb

and as such is an Islamic bomb, and can be used by them as and when

they choose. Your comments please.

 

SECRETARY POWELL: Nonsense. There is no such thing as -- Usama Bin

Laden is not a representative of Islam. He is a terrorist, he is a

murderer, he has murdered innocent Indians, innocent Americans,

innocent Pakistanis, innocent people from all over the world. And he

should not in any way be elevated to the status of a leader who

believes in any faith. He believes only in power. He has done nothing

to help the people who are suffering in the world. All he has done is

brought more evil into the world, and death and destruction to

individual citizens. There can be no linkage between what he might be

doing and what any other nation may be doing. I just reject that as

nonsense.

 

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, Patrick Tyler of the New York Times. A

couple of summers ago, the Central Intelligence Agency was reported

to suggest that America's plans to go forward with national missile

defense would incite China to expand its nuclear arsenal and that

that in turn would incite India and Pakistan in an arms race in South

Asia. Do you personally agree with that assessment? And you said you

discussed strategic issues today, how did it come up today?

 

SECRETARY POWELL: No, I don't agree with that assessment. I think the

kind of missile defense that we are planning on is a very limited

missile defense. I think once people come to understand the kind of

reductions we are going to make in our strategic offensive weapons,

significant reductions to much, much lower numbers, and when people

have a chance to get a look and come to understand the nature of our

limited missile defense, I don't think either Russia or China will

find it destabilizing with respect to their deterrent forces.

 

In my conversations both here and Islamabad, I heard from both sides

about this issue. We did have a conversation. I took the opportunity

of my meeting with the Prime Minister to describe the President's

strategic framework concept and to thank the Indians for their

understanding of the importance of missile defense. I get the sense

that both nations understand the nature of these weapons and the

importance of constraining their developments so that they serve as

deterrents and do not move from a strategy of deterrence to any other

kind of strategy. So there is no reason for an arms race to develop

based on what the United States is planning with missile defense. In

fact, I think missile defense in the long run will be seen as

stabilizing, not destabilizing, because it takes some of the currency

away from the value of strategic offensive weapons.

 

QUESTION: Sonia Trika, Indian Express. My question is addressed to

both of you. The Secretary said in Islamabad yesterday that you

believe that the Kashmir issue is central to the relationship between

India and Pakistan. This is not a view shared by India, which has

advocated a composite dialogue covering various political and

economic aspects with Pakistan, and not a unifocal approach as you

have said that centers on Kashmir alone. Do you think that the world

sees the wisdom of India's stand in this?

 

FOREIGN MINISTER SINGH: I cannot answer. I think the Secretary of

State has more than adequately really read out what he said in

Islamabad. There are obviously -- that is a position that the United

States of America has and has had. And as two democracies we could

disagree on an event but we don't need necessarily to be disagreeable

about the disagreement and we can work together. The question of the

state of Jammu and Kashmir is an example of the secular traditions of

the Indian nation. In that sense, we really cannot move towards

reinventing the two nations (inaudible) and we have shared these

views with the Secretary of State and will continue to do so.

 

SECRETARY POWELL: I agree totally.

 

QUESTION: Martha Raddatz from ABC. Secretary Powell, there was a

strain of anthrax found in the letter to Senator Daschle that is said

to be highly refined and pure, suggesting state sponsorship. Could

you comment on that? And Mr. Prime Minister, do you have concerns --

 

FOREIGN MINISTER SINGH: I'm not Prime Minister.

 

QUESTION: I'm sorry, I'm sorry (laughter). I'm so sorry. Should I ask

forgiveness or should I be happy for him (laughter).

 

Could you tell me what your concerns are about the evolving and

growing relationship between the United States and Pakistan, and have

you assured the United States that you'll do your part to calm down

tensions in Kashmir?

 

FOREIGN MINISTER SINGH: I can answer that very easily, I'm glad you

asked that. The relationship that India has and will develop with the

United States of America is not a hyphenated relationship. We don't

see it through any resin of relations between any other country. We

have a relationship with our western neighbor. We are committed.

 

This government has demonstrated the commitment of improving our

relations with Pakistan as perhaps no other government in the last

fifty years has despite the difficulties in several areas. The Prime

Minister has often said, and he repeated it to the Secretary of

State, that you can change friends but you can't change neighbors,

and we can certainly not alter geography, and Pakistan, with India,

has to learn how to live together as good neighbors. It will come, be

assured we cannot push the pace of it. Nobody can push the pace of

it.

 

To the people of the two countries, I have no doubt in my mind,

realize the essential sanity of what the Prime Minister of India has

repeatedly said, that the two people have to learn, have to forget

the past, have to forget the mistakes of the past 50 years and we

have to learn to live together as we address what are our real

enemies of today – poverty, want, as the two countries are enabled to

move together in the 21st century and meet the challenges of the 21st

century.

 

SECRETARY POWELL: I really can't add anything about the anthrax story

and the Daschle envelope and what they analyzed. I just have not any

more information than you already have from Washington, so I better

stay away from that.

 

QUESTION: Anurag Thomar of Zee News. Minister, Secretary Powell, what

is your perception about India-U.S. relations after having a whole

lot of meetings on important issues with senior Indian leaders? Where

does it stand today, where does it go?

 

SECRETARY POWELL: I think our relations are strong. They have

improved so much in recent years. I was saying to my colleagues

earlier that as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and in most of

the years I spent in senior positions in the U. S. military back in

the 70's and through the 80's, we really didn't have much to do with

India regrettably. And that is now all changed. It is all changed.

 

So these two great democracies can now work together on areas of

mutual interest. We are trying to remove whatever irritations exist

in our relationship. And this improvement was taken place before the

11th September, and since the 11th of September, with the strong

support that we received from the Indian Government, we have the

opportunity to accelerate the pace of change, and we look forward to

seizing that opportunity. And I think it will be in the interest not

only of our two countries, but in the interest of South Asia, as well.

 

QUESTION: Andrea Mitchell from NBC News. Mr. Secretary, can you share

any information about what has just happened in Jerusalem with the

shooting of a cabinet minister and how this will affect your efforts

to try to persuade both sides to resume a more meaningful dialogue

and persuade the Israelis, in particular, not to take counteraction?

 

SECRETARY POWELL: I just heard about it before the press conference

so I don't know the details, and who has taken credit for the

shooting or what the nature of the incident was and so I really don't

have a comment at this time.

 

QUESTION: Are you going to try to reach out to Mr. Sharon and try to

persuade him that no matter what has happened in this instance that

he should not retreat from --

 

SECRETARY POWELL: I think I better understand the instance before I

suggest that to Mr. Sharon, but as you know I speak to him on a very

regular basis, if not daily, every other day or so, and I would look

forward to doing it in the next day or so.

 

QUESTION: And Mr. Foreign Minister, in particular on the subject of

the U.S. Congress now lifting some remaining sanctions and the

expressed proposal by the Administration to follow up by waiving, by

taking advantage of the waiver and granting more economic aid and

possibly military aid in the future to Pakistan. Do you think that

this economic aid to Pakistan is potentially destabilizing the

relationship that India has with the United States? Is this too much

of a reward for Pakistan, and is it something that in any way offends

India?

 

FOREIGN MINISTER SINGH: I understand your question. I've just

responded to a similar question. India's relationship with the United

States of America is not subject to and is not under the veto of any

other relationship. These are two sovereign countries, and it's very

good luck to our western neighbors in Pakistan. It is my hope that

they will utilize the economic aid for the right purpose, but that's

again something that Pakistan has to decide. I can't very well decide

for Pakistan or even attempt to advise Pakistan how they should do

it. We have a certain experience about military aid to Pakistan in

the past, and now that we see some evidence of Pakistan moving away

from the fixed positions of the past and joining the rest of the

international community, we can only hope that the same approach will

be governed their utilization of any aid or assistance that they

receive from the United States of America or any other country in the

world.

 

MODERATOR: Thank you very much. I'm afraid we have to conclude here.

 

Thank you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[End]

 

 

Released on October 17, 2001