'There Still Is Tension Between India And Pakistan'

Revelant excerpts from the press briefing by Ari Fleischer atthe James S. Brady Briefing room, June 12, 2002.

Question: Ari, is the White House satisfied that the tension betweenIndia and Pakistan seems to be lessening?

Ari Fleischer: The White House -- the President is pleased with recentdevelopments in South Asia. Deputy Secretary of State Armitage has returned from asuccessful visit to the region. Secretary Rumsfeld is there now. And the Presidentwelcomes indications that the tensions are being reduced between India and Pakistan. Butmake no mistake, there still is tension between India and Pakistan. So there has beenpositive developments. The President is fully engaged in making certain that the trendcontinues in the right direction, because, unfortunately, the history of the region issometimes these trends get interrupted and return again to a wrong direction. Hence,Secretary Rumsfeld's presence in the region as we speak.

Question: Going back to Indian subcontinent. The President also saidyesterday that the risk of war is still there, maybe tensions defused. So what I'm askingis how he's going to control that there is no war in the future and like Kargil, threeyears ago, 1999, same situation, comes back every year or two years. And, number two, whenhe meets with the Israeli Prime Minister here, does he talk about Indian and Pakistanconflict because both are similarity in many ways because same bombing, same type ofpeople are bombing in Israel and India.

Ari Fleischer: On number two, no, the topic of India and Pakistan didnot come up in the President's meetings with the Prime Minister.

On the first point about the ongoing or continued volatility in the region, that isexactly why the President has dispatched the Secretary of Defense to the region. It'sgoing to require continual effort, continual work. But I think that many nations can takepride in the fact that their diplomacy has led to a trend that is moving in the rightdirection, and not the wrong direction. And the world needs to keep its wheel -- itsshoulder to the wheel to make certain that it keeps turning in the right direction.

Question: You said a while back that many nations could take pride inthe diplomatic efforts that walked India and Pakistan apparently back from this brink.Perhaps you've addressed this in other briefings and I just missed it, but could you fitinto that diplomatic mosaic where China would fit in and -- did China play any kind of arole? Was Beijing asked to --

Ari Fleischer: Let me ask that specific question, because I have notbeen briefed on any information particular to China. I was referring specifically toBritain and the efforts through Jack Straw. The European Union has been involved. AndPresident Putin, of course, and Russia played an important role.

Question: Given China's historic role in the region, and itslong-standing alliance with India, it would be interesting to know what our strategicthinking might be on the kind of role that China could play.

Ari Fleischer: We'll follow up. We'll get that. I'll see.