BOMBAY: US Assistant Secretary of State, Ms. Robin Raphael, is not convinced with the credibility of the elections which are being proposed to be held in Jammu and Kashmir in the coming months, Speaking to the press at an informal gathering here last week, Ms. Raphael, who was on a day’s visit to Bombay, stated that the US administration was not convinced that elections in J&K could be fair given the ground realities there. This was in response to 4 question whether the US administration would use its good offices to convince the Pakistanis not to heighten tension during the election process in the valley. “How credible are the elections, ’is what we have to ask, before endorsing it she said. Earlier, on arrival, Raphael opened her chat by;” ’No I, do not have plague, Its just a cold which was in my head and has now got to my throat, I have spent quite some time explaining this to everyone,” she said amidst laughter, She then proceeded to explain why she was in India and the review meetings which she had with the US Counsel and embassy officials from India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh.
She pointed out that ever since the South Asia bureau had opened about two years ago, awareness in United States too had been growing. She recalled that while delivering a talk in Omaha, Nebraska, people were asking intelligent questions on the economics and politics of South Asia, besides of course the nuclear capability of this region, She felt that the nuclear race in the subcontinent was getting to some extent “frightening.” India and Pakistan have to figure out a way to cap their nuclear programs and later roll back their plans, I concede that the rolling back “would be rather tough. The nuclear genic is very difficult to put back into the bottle,” she said, She lamented that there was no popular consciousness on the devastating effects of nuclear arsenal. In fact there were beach” or “the day after’ to heighten public perceptions, “Rejecting the nuclear option is to vote loser in this region,”” she felt. Politicians: were not willing to forego the nuclear option as it would lead to losing political edge locally.
When a correspondent pointed out that it was rather unfair to view India’s nuclear option vis-a-vis Pakistan’s and not China’s, she replied, “In the long term China could be are ality. However, in the short term Pakistan was the reality.” To the comparison on equating India and Pakistan on all fronts, she said that before the breakup of Soviet Union, Pakistan was a strategic partner as much as India was to Soviet Union, Today, the situation has changed. Pakistanis were feeling unfairly treated by the Pressler Amendment.
Article extracted from this publication >> October 21, 1994
