Berkley: Pakistan ties to U.S. a concern for India

Benjamin Grove

Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2002 | 10:27 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- The prime minister of India told Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., and four other House members last week that India is worried about the United States strengthening ties to India's rival Pakistan.

In a half-hour meeting over cashews and fruit juice, Prime Minister Atal Vajpayee said he was concerned that America is embracing Pakistan as a vital player in the war on terrorism at a time when Pakistani terrorists continue to attack India, Berkley said.

"The message he was trying to deliver was that we are all in this fight against terrorism together," Berkley said. "There is a tremendous concern that the United States will abandon them. They are very suspicious of (Pakistani President Gen. Pervez) Musharraf's motives," Berkley said.

The Nevada lawmaker, a member of the International Relations Committee, toured India for a week at a time when India and Pakistan, both nuclear armed, are negotiating a tense standoff. Among other differences, the two nations have been trading fire over the disputed Kashmir region. Clashes in the region continued while the U.S. lawmakers toured India.

Berkley's group included Reps. Joseph Crowley, D-N.Y., Rush Holt, D-N.J., Janice Schakowsky, D-Ill., and Robert Wexler, D-Fla. The private business group Confederation of Indian Industry paid for the trip.

The delegation met with a number of high-ranking Indian officials and assured them that India is a valuable ally of the United States, Berkley said.

The lawmakers met with Vajpayee just a few days after Musharraf extended his hand for a handshake with the Indian leader as a gesture of goodwill at a Jan. 5 meeting.