Musharraf Assures Armitage of His Peace Desire

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, June 06, 2002

Musharraf Assures Armitage of His Peace Desire

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said Thursday in Islamabad that he was assured by President Pervez Musharraf that he was searching for peace and would not be the one to initiate war.

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U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said Thursday in Islamabad that he was assured by President Pervez Musharraf that he was searching for peace and would not be the one to initiate war.

Armitage made the remarks following a meeting with President General Pervez Musharraf and talks with Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar and Foreign Secretary Inamul Haq.

Armitage said, "It was heartening to hear President Musharraf's desire to have war avoidance," and the United States hoped to get the same type of assurances from New Delhi.

He said that General Pervez Musharaf felt that he was doing whatever he could to reduce the tension and made it very clear to him that nothing was happening across the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir.

Armitage said that during the meetings they discussed comments of the president about cessation of activities across the LoC. The United States would continue discussions in search for peace and lowering of tension that existed between Pakistan and India.

He said what he had noted from the conversation with President Musharraf was that he wanted to do everything to avoid war and this was a good basis to proceed. He said the Pakistani president wanted to do this by keeping intact the honor and dignity of the nation and the armed forces.

He described the situation between the sub-continental neighbors as "quite complicated, quite volatile."

When asked if his visit would help cool down the heat in the Pak-Indian relations, Armitage replied, "I think I am going to help" and he was "neither optimistic nor pessimistic."

Armitage said that the international community needed to do more to reduce the tension between India and Pakistan.

Armitage arrived in Islamabad early Thursday on the first leg of his trouble-shooting mission. He is scheduled to leave for India on Friday.

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