'We Are Fully Supportive Of President Musharraf'

Remarks to the press by US Secretary Colin L. Powell and MEA Yashwant Sinha, Benjamin Franklin Room,Washington, DC, January 20, 2004

Colin Powell: I've just concluded a very successful meeting with Minister Sinha, and, as you know, earlier in the day hemet with President Bush, where he had an excellent discussion with the President. 

I think I'd like to start out by saying that we are so pleased at how far we have come over the last couple ofyears. When the Minister and I were here together some 18 months ago, I guess it was, we were worried about aconflict breaking out in the region, and how that conflict might escalate. And here today, we are able to talkabout the success that the Indians and the Pakistanis achieved recently in Islamabad, how they have beenreaching out to one another, how transportation links are being reestablished; how two leaders, Prime MinisterVajpayee and President Musharraf, have set themselves on a course for dialogue and discussion of all of theissues that are outstanding between the two sides. 

We are very pleased at these developments, as you might imagine, and we are also very pleased at theimprovement in the U.S.-Indian bilateral relationship, as evidenced in so many ways, but most recently in theannouncement made by President Bush and Prime Minister Vajpayee last week with respect to what is oftenreferred to as a glide path as we move forward in areas of cooperation having to do with civil nuclearinitiatives, space initiatives, missile defense, as well as high-technology trade exchanges. 

All of this, I think reflects the understanding between our two nations that we are two nations that sharecommon values, we believe in democracy, two of the oldest democracies in the face of the Earth systems draw uscloser and closer with each passing day. 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Minister for all the effort he has put into thisrelationship, and all that he has done to help with the improved relationship between India and Pakistan. 

And, so, Mr. Minister, it's a great pleasure to have had you here. And as always, I found our discussions mostuseful, informative and warm. 

Thank you. 

Yashwant Sinha:  Thank you, Secretary Powell. 

I am returning to the State Department after a gap, as Secretary Powell said, of about 18 months. I was herein September of 2002. 

We've had, since the morning when I met President Bush and now with Secretary Powell in the State Department,some very productive discussions. 

As Secretary Powell has mentioned to you, we discussed the developments in the subcontinent, the developmentsin the SAARC context, India-Pakistan, and also discussed our bilateral relationship. Both sides are very happyat the statement which has been issued by President Bush and Prime Minister Vajpayee on the "quartetissues," and there is seriousness and keenness on both sides to take this initiative forward and startimplementing the understanding which has been reached on these issues. 

We also spent our time discussing various other global issues. We spent a little time discussing Afghanistan.We spent a little time discussing Iraq, the developments in Iran, in the Middle East. I can say that, youknow, these discussions have been in the friendliest of and most cordial atmosphere, and there is a great dealof meeting of minds on many of these -- most of these issues. And I'm very happy that I have had a veryproductive visit to Washington, and I am happy that both President Bush and Secretary Powell have been able totake time to spend their time with me and bring me up to date with regard to various developments. 

Thank you. 

Colin Powell: Thank you. 

Barry. 

Question: Mr. Secretary, with all respect to the -- our friend from India, I have to ask you about Iraq. 

We've heard about refinements for three, four days now. Can you be a little more concrete and tell us, ifthere is such a decision, how the U.S. is going to adjust, with the cooperation, of course, of the Iraqis, toadjust the plan for transferring sovereignty back to Iraq? Is the deadline really immutable? Because now, yourfriend Pachachi is talking about, we hope to meet the deadline. 

Colin Powell: We are still committed to the 15 November plan, which includes a deadline of 30 June of this year for transferof sovereignty. Obviously, we'll see how events unfold, but I believe that it is still possible to meet thatdeadline, and we're not shifting off that date. 

With respect to refinements, we know that there is a great deal of debate and discussion as to whether or notelections could be held between now and then. The Ayatollah Sistani has spoken about this, and yesterday verygood meetings were held in New York between the Secretary General and his staff, Ambassador Bremer and hisstaff, as well as the Governing Council members. 

And what we hope the Secretary General will see his way clear to do is to send a team over to meet with thevarious parties, and especially with the Ayatollah, and to explain what the Secretary has characterized as thedifficulty in arranging elections that soon, and to see whether or not there are refinements that might assistthe Ayatollah and others in accepting that elections aren't timely or appropriate at this time, but there is away to show an appropriate level of representational activity so that people can feel that the transitionalassembly and government that will be created is representative of the people. 

So those are the kinds of things we're talking about. There is a not a specific decision point and there isnot a specific plan on these refinements. That's something that we'll be in discussion with the SecretaryGeneral about. 

After the meetings yesterday, I spoke to Secretary General Annan about 7:30 last night, reviewed the day'sactivities. The Secretary General said he wanted to consult with his staff, and I expect to hear back from himin the not too distant future. 

Some of Ambassador Bremer's experts stayed on in New York to speak to the Secretary General's staff about thecaucus arrangement that is in the 15 November plan to see if refinements of that might be something thatpeople could work with. But we're sticking with the plan, sticking with the dates in the plan, and are open torefinements if there are refinements that make sense and get the support of all of the different parties. 

Andrea. 

Question: Yesterday, the IAEA Director General Mohamed El Baradei met with U.S. and British representatives. What canyou tell us about the status? There's a U.S. team that's in Libya right now. How soon do you think Libya'snuclear program will be dismantled and then brought out of the country? And do you see this as the beginning,maybe a first step, in rapprochement between the United States and Libya? 

Colin Powell: As the President said when this deal was announced some weeks ago, he hoped it was the beginning of a newrelationship with Libya. But it begins with complete removal of these weapons of mass destruction and theinfrastructure for them. 

We do have a team in Libya. Ambassador Don Mahley is there leading our team. We have been in touch, as younoted, with Dr. ElBaradei. Under Secretary Bolton and British representatives and Dr. ElBaradei met yesterdayto work out the arrangements that would be followed as the U.S., the UK and the IAEA work together with theLibyans to identify that which should be removed and must be removed. 

I think things will start to happen rather quickly. I can't give you a timeline now until the work is done onthe ground, but we do have people on the ground now working with the Libyans. 

Question: Mr. Secretary, there's increasing attacks now between Israel and Lebanon -- air raids on -- from Israel today,and Israel is blaming Syria and, of course, its support for Hezbollah. Is the U.S. concerned by thisescalation, and what role do you see Syria playing in the problems? 

Colin Powell: I think it's unfortunate that Hezbollah, once again, has caused this need for a response. The deliberateaction they took, which resulted in the loss of life, once again demonstrates the nature of that organization.And we believe that all parties who are interested in peace should condemn this kind of action by Hezbollah.And I would hope the Syrians would, once again, understand that any support, whether it's vocal support orallowing their leadership to stay in Damascus, or whether it's serving as a transshipment point for weapons toHezbollah, is destabilizing in the region and is not in the interest of peace. 

And so both sides need to monitor their actions carefully, both the Israelis and the Lebanese, and everybodyshould try to remain consistent and within the agreements that they had with the Secretary General withrespect to the line between Northern Israel and Lebanon. 

Question: A follow-up? 

Colin Powell: An Indian. Yeah. 

Question: I'm Parasuram, Press Trust of India. 

Both of you described the meetings as very productive. I was wondering, sir, whether it's possible for both ofyou to flesh it out a little as to where you expect the most progress very soon and what do you expect in thelong term? 

Yashwant Sinha: Well, you know, I mentioned to you that we discussed, for instance, the "quartet issues" and thestatement which had been issued by President Bush and Prime Minister Vajpayee. And we have agreed that we'llengage each other very soon on the next steps which are needed, especially to start quickly implementing thephase one of that agreement. 

And we are hoping that it should be possible for both sides to start discussing this in the very near future.We'll get back -- I've told Secretary Powell that we'll get back to him and let him know when we are ready forsuch discussions. But the fact that the statement came from the President and the Prime Minister shows theseriousness of the intent with which we are moving on this path, "the glide path." 

Colin Powell:I would just add that yes, we are pleased that the Indian side will take a look at the ideas that were putforth with respect to moving into the phase one of "the glide path," and I'm confident that we'll bemoving in an aggressive way and promptly. 

But there are so many other aspects to our relationship that we discussed. We have strategic conversationstaking place at a variety of levels. We want to get our counterterrorism discussions underway again. We talkedabout global issues having to do with trafficking in persons. There is no area of dialogue that we are notpursuing, and pursuing in a very, very profitable way. We've noted that trade has increased significantlybetween the United States and India over the last year. 

All of this reflects, I think, a rapidly improving relationship between the United States and India onstrategic matters, on trade matters, and the cooperation we see between the United States and India onregional matters. 

During my meeting, I also took the opportunity to thank the Minister for the significant contributions thatIndia made to rebuilding and reconstruction activities in Afghanistan and for the commitment they made at theMadrid conference to provide some funding for Iraqi reconstruction as well. 

Yes, sir. 

Question: This question is addressed to both you, Secretary, and the Foreign Minister. The apprehensions have beenquite rampant in the American press that there could be a possible coup in Pakistan. If this is true, how doesit all go well for Indo-Pak relations and -- Indo-Pak relations? 

Colin Powell: Well, speculation in the American press is speculation that can't be made true. We are fully supportive ofPresident Musharraf. We believe that he is making the right decisions for his nation. We believe that the tworecent coup attempts -- or not coup attempts, but assassination attempts -- fortunately failed, but it showsthat there are still terrorists within his country that do not like what he is doing. But as we saw at theSAARC meeting in Islamabad, he is stepping up to the challenge of improving relations with India, and as wealso saw in the speech that he gave to the parliament earlier this week, that he is prepared to speak out forwhat he knows is right for Pakistan. 

So we support him and will continue to support him, and we hope and are confident that he and his securitypeople will be able to round up these terrorists who don't want to see a better future for the Pakistanipeople. 

One more. 

Yashwant Sinha: I would just add one sentence to that comment, and that is that stability is very important to carry forwardthe initiative which has been taken. And the Prime Minister of India has already wished President Musharrafwell, all the very best to him when he was talking to him on the telephone as he was leaving Islamabad. 

Question:  Mr. Secretary, China has said that the proposed referendum in Taiwan could take Taiwanese-Chinese bilateralrelations to the brink of danger. Do you share that concern and do you think the referendum could alter thestatus quo? 

Colin Powell: Well, it remains to be seen. And we're still studying the language in the referendum and we're also studyingthe response that we've heard from Beijing. 

Let me just say that our policy remains unchanged and it remains our One China policy undergirded by thevarious resolutions and our obligations under the Taiwan Relations Act. By resolutions, I mean the threespecific communiqués that flow from our One China policy. And we believe that this is the way to move forwardand no unilateral actions should be taken which would prejudice the ability to move forward and achievereconciliation in due course.
Thank you.