India Rejects US Suggestion on Kashmir Elections

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, July 29, 2002

India Rejects US Suggestion on Kashmir Elections

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India rejected a suggestion by United States Secretary of State Colin Powell that New Delhi should allow independent international observers to monitor the scheduled elections in India-controlled Kashmir in October.

A few hours after Powell left for Islamabad, spokeswoman of theExternal Affairs Ministry Nirupama Rao told a press conference that India did not need suggestions on how to conduct elections inKashmir.

New Delhi was committed to hold free, fair and peaceful elections in India-controlled part of the disputed valley, Rao said.

Early on Sunday morning, Powell urged New Delhi to allow independent international observers to monitor the elections, which he said would be "helpful" in making the polls "inclusive."

"If we have enough observers there, you can see what is taking place, whether people are able to campaign and watch the process of debate among candidates and see actual conduct of elections that will seem to add a level of credibility to the elections," the US secretary of state told a press conference.

Rao rejected the suggestion, saying that any diplomat or individual, who had visa for India, could travel anywhere in the country including Kashmir and could witness the polls in his individual capacity.

However, she said, New Delhi would not allow any nongovernmental organization or group of individuals to observe orverify the elections.

During his talks with Indian leaders including Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Powell did not ask for formal observers for the polls, saying he understood India's position, Rao added.

On Indo-Pakistan tensions, Rao said India had told the United States that the infiltration into the Indian side had not stopped and that Islamabad had failed to take any action in dismantling terrorist camps in the country.

"We have expressed hope that Pakistan will take a step before India takes consequential measure," the spokeswoman told the press.

Powell, who is on his third visit to South Asia since last October, had failed to convince Indian leaders to resume dialogue with Pakistan.

With troops remaining mobilized on both sides of the two neighbors and cross-border infiltration continuing in Kashmir, thesituation in the region "remains tense" and much more needed to bedone by both New Delhi and Islamabad, he said at the press conference.

New Delhi should take further de-escalatory measures while Islamabad should also take steps to fulfill its promises on curbing terrorism and checking infiltration into India, he added.

Powell held two-hour talks with Indian External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha Saturday evening shortly after his arrival.During the talks, Sinha ruled out early resumption of dialogue with Islamabad under the ground that necessary conditions did not exist at present.

However, he said, the tensions between the two neighbors had improved "considerably" in the last few months.

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