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By B. Muralidhar Reddy
Addressing Pakistani and Russian journalists in Moscow at the end of his three-day official visit on Thursday, Gen. Musharraf said Islamabad was ready to hold a dialogue with India on all the outstanding issues, including the ``core issue'' of Kashmir, without any pre-conditions.The interesting aspect of his observations related to Mr. Putin. "I did not ask him to broker a dialogue but I believe that both sides will have to accept a facilitator or a broker. However, Pakistan thinks that President Putin is in the best position to initiate measures for a dialogue between Pakistan and India,'' he was quoted as saying by the Pakistani correspondents who accompanied him. Gen. Musharraf said that during his talks with Mr. Putin, he had found the Russian President interested in developing ties with Pakistan without allowing them to be influenced by Moscow's relations with a third country. And that he had told Mr. Putin that Islamabad would not let its relations with Moscow be dictated by its relations with India. "We decided that our relations should be developed purely on a bilateral basis and should not be influenced by third-party concerns.'' He did discuss Kashmir with his Russian counterpart but did not request him to broker peace between India and Pakistan. So long as the other side to the dispute did not agree to third-party mediation, there was no use talking about it. ``But, of course, I thanked President Putin for his continued engagement with the problem and his efforts to reduce tension in South Asia. We believe he is the best placed world statesman to play a role in resolving disputes between India and Pakistan.'' On the Pakistan-Russia cooperation in the war against global terrorism, Gen. Musharraf said he had discussed the issue with Mr. Putin, with particular reference to the al-Qaeda. "I gave to the (Russian) President my understanding about the apprehensions regarding Chechen members of the al-Qaeda and also assured him that we will not allow our territory to be used for any kind of terrorism by anybody and that Chechnya was Russia's internal problem.'' The al-Qaeda was in disarray, he maintained. "They are dispersed, they are on the run and in hiding. They are only capable of staging minor activities. They cannot carry out major terrorist actions.''
`Osama not in our territory'
To a question on the whereabouts of the al-Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden, he said according to the latest information, he was alive. But he was almost certain that the Arab fugitive was not hiding in Pakistan. ``Pakistan's western borders have been sealed by the Pakistan Army and the Frontier Constabulary and we have an undertaking from the tribal elders that they would pass on any information they have on Osama to the authorities.'' Osama moved with a large protection force and it was not possible for him to hide in Pakistan with such a big force.Asked to comment on the statement by the U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powell, that the Iraqi embassy in Pakistan had links with the al-Qaeda, he said that he had not studied the statement in detail. If the U.S. had any information in this regard, it had not shared it with Pakistan. The Pakistan-Russia Joint Economic Cooperation Commission would meet in the first half of this year to discuss the possibility of expanding bilateral trade.
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