Miliband on India and Kashmir

[roadrunner]

Miliband equates Kashmir with terror from Pakistan
16 Jan 2009, 0033 hrs IST, TNN

NEW DELHI: By all counts, British foreign secretary David Miliband failed to strike the right chords in India

Capping a couple of days of publicly rejecting India's contentions on terrorism from Pakistan and showing his political preferences among Indian political parties on the eve of general elections, Miliband on Thursday crossed the ultimate threshold of insensitivity, by equating the Kashmir issue with terrorism from Pakistan. He's got this right - "Terrorism (in India's eyes), Freedom fighting (in Kashmir's eyes) is related to the injustices against the Kashmiris - solve this and the problems go away

Writing an article in a British daily, Miliband said resolution of the longstanding issue between India and Pakistan would help deny extremists in the region "one of their main calls to arms".

"Although I understand the current difficulties, resolution of the dispute over Kashmir would help deny extremists in the region one of their main calls to arms, and allow Pakistani authorities to focus more effectively on tackling the threat on their western borders," Miliband said.

Expectedly, he got slammed by the foreign office. In a strongly worded reaction, MEA spokesperson Vishnu Prakash said, "Foreign secretary Miliband is entitled to his views which are clearly his own and evolving. India is a free country and even if we do not share his views, he is free to express them. However, we do not need unsolicited advice on internal matters of India like J&K."

The comment came after Miliband refused to acknowledge that there could be official support for the Mumbai attacks from Pakistan and then rejected India's demand that the perpetrators should be tried here, advocating that they should be tried in Pakistan, in what was seen by the government as a public snub to India.

Senior government sources said it was astonishing that Miliband exhibited such complete ignorance of the Kashmir issue as well as the ideology of terrorism that drives Islamist terrorists in Pakistan to attack India, with support from state agencies. - HO HO HO. Miliband has got Kashmir issue RIGHT. He realizes that Kashmir is an injustice, and India needs to sort it out if it wants peace.

Miliband's trip comes after his PM Gordon Brown's visit to Pakistan where he declared that three-fourths of terror attacks being investigated in the UK originated within Pakistan.

Miliband also angered the principal Opposition party, BJP, by travelling with Rahul Gandhi on a constituency visit to Amethi on Wednesday. In a statement on Thursday, BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy criticised him, saying, "It seems he has preferred to ignore the political realities, and the desirability of his visit to Amethi at this point of time is certainly questionable."
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/..._terror_from_Pakistan/articleshow/3985530.cms

 

[Captain03]

miliband knows his stuff
thumbs up for him

 

[AliFarooq]

 

[AliFarooq]

 

[roopesh]

India needs to sort it out if it wants peace.

Hows the situation compare to last decade....is the fights increasing/Decreasing...

we need to compare not year/year...may be comparing to 90's give us some sort of conclusion.....maintaining kashmir for another 30-40 years with good development might turn the situation with youths...

 

[ju87]

If I had a penny for every upstart western foreign minister making bland, trite comments about the "resolution of Kashmir dispute"...
I don't see what you guys get from his comment. He said the issue should be resolved. The Indian govt also wants it resolved. Milliband hasn't said HOW he wants it resolved. See why? He values the UK-India relations, which would obviously be soured if he made slanted comments and the same for Pakistan.

Basically the NATO allies want the Kashmir dispute resolved so that they can get the Pakistani "allies" to focus on the Afghan border. Well, newsflash, India isn't about to sacrifice her interests for NATO anytime soon.

 

[jamesy]

does it really matter wat miliband or some other 'rubber'band says?!!
even obama was told by india not to mess around when he issued a comment about kashmir and later his camp had to give a clarification.
anyways, even at the height of US-pak-west 'friendship', india didnt budge. so it is certainly not going to give up its position on kashmir especially after recent elections when the kashmiris are showing signs of integrating into the indian system.
a few more years and there wont be any 'independence struggle'. just like punjab, assam, nagland...etc.
we know how to quell 'freedom' movements!