Reid: India, Pakistan are a long way from peace

Benjamin Grove

Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2000 | 11:08 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Longtime rivals India and Pakistan are a long way from lasting peace and may continue nuclear weapons testing, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said after returning from a 12-day trip to the countries.

"It's going to be a long battle to achieve peace," Reid said this morning.

Reid landed at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington on Monday night after his trip to India, Pakistan, Nepal and Egypt. He was one of three Nevada members of Congress who took taxpayer-paid trips overseas during Congress' two-month winter break. Congress resumes work Monday.

Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., returned Monday from a military intelligence trip to Australia and New Zealand, with a brief stop in Hawaii. Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., is in Africa until Monday.

Tensions are high between India and Pakistan, the world's newest nuclear powers. The nations have fought two wars over the disputed Kashmir region.

Reid joined three other senators, Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., Christopher Dodd, D-Conn.; and Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, on the trip. They were the first members of Congress to visit Pakistan since Gen. Pervaiz Musharraf seized power in October.

Reid said the senators urged Indian and Pakistani officials to work toward peace. But neither side is showing much willingness even to talk, Reid said. Artillery shelling continued in Kashmir while the senators met with the leaders.

Reid said the senators tried to set a stage for President Clinton who is due in the region later this year.

"President Clinton is really going to have to squeeze hard to get them to move a little," Reid said.

Reid said India does not want international help settling differences with Pakistan, but Pakistan seems willing to accept negotiation assistance.

Reid said the December hijacking of an Indian Airliner is still "hot news" in both nations. Indian leaders still say Pakistani officials were behind the hijacking, which the Pakistanis deny. Reid doubts Pakistan's government had anything to do with the hijacking.

But he added, "They have terrorists within their borders, and the message we left with Pakistan is that they need to do something about their terrorists."

The senators urged both nations to sign the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. But their message was undercut because the United States has not signed the treaty. The Senate last year voted not to sign it.

"Our answer to them was that we can bring it up again," Reid said.

Both nations bristled that the U.S. delegation was meeting with their rival. Indian officials told the senators that Pakistan was not even a true democracy like India, Reid said.

"What we had to do is be equally fair to both," Reid said.

The senators in India over three days met with Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh, Home Minister L.K. Advani, National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra, Opposition Leader Sonia Ghandi.

In Pakistan they met with Musharraf, Foreign Minister Abdus Sattar and members of several opposition parties. They also met with members of several human rights organizations.

Reid said the senators also discussed increasing U.S. trade in India, and Indian officials told the delegation that many of their most gifted scientists opt to work in fast-paced technology fields in the United States.

"It's really a brain drain," Reid said.

The senators also met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who briefed the delegation on the U.S. ally's relationship with Iraq, Iran and Israel.

"He thinks (Saddam Hussein) is not an honest man," Reid said. Mubarak also expressed hope for peace between Israel and Syria, which the United States is trying to broker.

"He spoke warmly of both (slain Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak) Rabin and (Israeli Prime Minister Ehud) Barak," Reid said.

In Nepal, the delegation visited a Tibetan refugee center, partly funded by the United States. A boy who had lost several toes to frostbite greeted Reid.

While the senators were in India and Pakistan, Gibbons was touring a key spy center in Alice Springs in the Northern Territory of Australia, operated jointly by the United States and Australia. The center gathers military intelligence, including satellite data, from Asian nations, including information about military movement in East Timor and nuclear weapons in India and Pakistan.

"It's a vital link for the United States," Gibbons said, adding that much of what he learned is classified.

Gibbons traveled with five other members of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. The group stopped in Hawaii to meet with military leaders of the Pacific Command, who track military and weapons activity throughout the Pacific.

Gibbons also met with military and government leaders in New Zealand, which will not let U.S. nuclear-powered warships dock in its harbors.

The United States, in turn, does not share military intelligence with New Zealand or train with the island nation.

The United States is also trying to sell some of its F-16 fighters to New Zealand, who has been a reluctant buyer, Gibbons said.

"We're trying to iron out the difficulties the United States and New Zealand have," Gibbons said. "The No. 1 thing is that we keep the talks open."

The cost of the trips was not yet available, congressional staff members said.