Secretary Condoleezza Rice, Foreign Minister Natwar Singh

Remarks With Indian Foreign Minister Natwar Singh

Secretary Condoleezza Rice Hyderabad House New Delhi, India March 16, 2005 (10:54 a.m. local)

FOREIGN MINISTRER SINGH: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for turning up in such large numbers. We are pleased to welcome Dr. Rice to India. It is her first visit, and the first visit by a cabinet member in the second term of the Bush administration. We view her as a friend of India who led the fashioning of the new policy in the first term. I look forward to working with her, and talking Indo-U.S. relations to even higher levels and more frequently, and we’ll continue our discussion during lunch.

The issues that I’ll just briefly mention: The Next Steps in the Strategic Partnership, or NSSP, Phase II should be concluded fairly soon. High Technology trade will continue to grow. We will cooperate more closely in the field of energy. Our defense cooperation will be expanded. Civil aviation is another major area of growth through an Open Skies agreement. This will impact positively on our economic and trade links. Both governments will encourage their business communities to be more aggressive in exploiting opportunities and challenges.

Madam, we acknowledge your great political vision, and I felt that we were on the same wavelength as you looked at this relationship not only for what it offers today, but at its enormous potential to shape our global future to our mutual advantage. Naturally, we discussed important regional and global questions. We approached these issues from a common commitment to democracy, pluralism and prosperity. On Nepal, we agreed that recent events have been a setback to these goals. Democratic freedoms must be restored and reconciliation with political parties must lead to a return to multi-party democracy in Nepal. I apprised the Secretary of State of recent developments in our composite dialogue with Pakistan, which is progressing satisfactorily. We look forward to welcoming General Musharraf here soon.

If I may be allowed to say something, I will also respectfully request him that he ensures that the Pakistan cricket team does not beat our team.

(Laughter)

There should be no doubt about our commitment to achieving peace in Pakistan. It is critical that Pakistan implements fully a solemn commitment to cease all cross-border terrorism against India.

On Afghanistan, we assessed our ongoing cooperation and support of President Karzai’s government. We will continue to work together closely. We also exchanged views on West Asia, what you, Madam, call the Middle East. I informed the Secretary of State that India will be prepared to contribute to economic reconstruction in Iraq. We will await any requests from the newly elected government, and judge them on their merit.

Naturally, we spoke about the reform of the United Nations. It was agreed that as strategic partners, we should have a sustained dialogue on this very important issue. Dr. Rice met the Chairperson of the UPH Imadi Sonia Gandhi earlier this morning. Their meeting lasted half an hour. Apart from being extremely cordial and warm, almost all issues of mutual interest were discussed. Dr. Rice will be calling on the Prime Minister later in the day. I am hosting a lunch in her honor where we will, as I said earlier, continue our discussions. Even from this brief stay, I am certain that she will get a sense of warmth of the welcome that awaits President Bush. I told Condoleezza Rice that she comes here as a friend, and when a friend comes to India, they don’t have to knock at any door. They will find the door open. Thank you.

SECRETARY RICE: Thank you very much. I have indeed had a very warm welcome here in India. I want to thank you very much, Foreign Minister Singh, for this very warm welcome and for our productive discussions. I did have a very cordial and wonderful meeting this morning with Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, the Chairperson of the Congress Party. We had met before at one time in Washington. It was really very good to have a chance to renew my discussions and my dialogue with her.

The President wanted me to have a chance to come to India early in my tenure as Secretary of State and early in his second term because this is a relationship that has transpired…transformed in recent years from one that had great potential into one that is really now realizing that potential. It is based first and foremost on the fact that we share common values, and there are no stronger relationships than those that are based on common values. This is a vibrant and wonderful democracy. It’s remarkable that this large country with all of its ethnic and religious and heritage differences could be such a vibrant and functioning democracy. In fact, the United States is, of course, not nearly so large, but we also are a democracy that is multi-ethnic and multi-religious and pluralistic and that’s an experience that binds us together and gives us a firm foundation for our partnership in regional and global affairs.

We and India have taken our relationship to a new level through the NSSP, Phase I of which has been completed, and Phase II of which we look forward to having completed very shortly. And I said to the Foreign Minister and will say later to the Prime Minister, that there is much more that we can do. Our defense cooperation is strong in military-to-military contacts and joint exercises. The United States looks forward to enhancing that defense cooperation over the next several years. We also look forward to an energy dialogue, because, of course, the demands for energy of growing economies like India and the United States are demands that will have to be met in order to keep prosperous and growing and expanding economies that can then serve the needs of their people, and we look forward to a large-scale energy dialogue that looks at ways to meet our energy needs and at the same time to be responsive to environmental concerns.

We, as well, have had a chance to talk about American support for the composite dialogue with Pakistan. We very much admire what the Prime Minister and President Musharraf have been able to continue. Given the change in government here in India, it is heartening that that dialogue has continued and, indeed, accelerated and we want to be supportive in any way that we can. As the Foreign Minister said, we had the chance to talk about Afghanistan, about Iraq, and especially about the challenge to democracy in Nepal, where we have had outstanding cooperation between our Ambassadors to try and help that country to get back on a democratic path. That simply must happen, and we are in complete agreement that it needs to happen very, very soon.

I think it shows that India and the United States have regional responsibilities, but also increasingly global responsibilities. We respect this great democracy. We respect what it has been able to achieve for its people. We respect the challenges that it has to achieve even more for its people, and we respect the possibilities that the United States and India enjoy for global partnership.

And, I am going to make a promise to the Foreign Minister right now and that is that I’ll even try to understand cricket. (Laughter.) That will help.

FOREIGN MINISTER SINGH: I will try to understand baseball. (Laughter.)

SECRETARY RICE: Thank you.

MODERATOR: There will be time for two questions from the Delhi-based media and two questions from the traveling press. Please introduce yourself and indicate to whom the question is directed. Yes, I see NDTV.

QUESTION: This question is on…

FOREIGN MINISTER SINGH: Please stand up. Could you stand up?

QUESTION: Yes, sorry. This question is for Ms. Rice. What do you feel about the cooperation between India and Iran on the gas pipeline, since you’ve just made a statement about expanding the dialogue on energy, since… Are there any reservations between cooperation between India and Iran on the gas pipeline? (repeats the question in Hindi) Thanks.

SECRETARY RICE: Well, thank you very much. I think that our views concerning Iran are very well known by this time, and we have communicated to the Indian government our concerns about gas pipeline cooperation between Iran and India. I think our Ambassador has made statements in that regard. And so, those concerns are well known to the Indian government. We do need to look at the broader question of how India meets its energy needs over the next decades in what is a rapidly growing economy, and economy that must continue to grow in order for the benefits to be felt by India’s people, and since that is something, that is a goal that we very much support, we believe that a broad energy dialogue should be launched with India because the needs are there, we have our own energy needs, and indeed, given the technological sophistication of our economy, of India’s economy, I would hope that we could also explore new ways that new technologies can help us over the next decades to meet what are undoubtedly going to be burgeoning energy needs. So, yes, we do have our concerns. We’ve communicated those, but we intend also to look at this as a broader problem.

FOREIGN MINISTER SINGH: Yes, as you know the discussions are going on between the Petroleum Minister of the Government of India, Shri Mansagar Rai, and his counterparts in Iran and in Pakistan. As the Secretary of State said, the energy requirements of India are growing exponentially in the years to come, becoming more and more industrialized. We have traditional good relations with Iran. We expect Iran will fulfill all of its obligations with regard to the NPT. We have no problems of any kind with Iran, and as Dr. Rice said, the requirement for energy and a new technology…India, Pakistan, Iran are indeed in touch with each other.

QUESTION: In your discussions today. . .

FOREIGN MINISTER SINGH: I can’t hear you.

QUESTION: This question is for both of you. In your discussions today, did you discuss the sale of F-16s to both India and Pakistan, reach any agreement on that, and does this kind of potential arms pact represent a tacit acknowledgement by the United States that both powers possess nuclear weapons that could be used against the other?

SECRETARY RICE: It will not be surprising to you that in our context of our discussions about the security environment here in the region and our discussions about defense cooperation that the question of arms sales, including F-16s has come up. As I’ve said, we are going to continue to have broad discussions about the security needs, about the defense needs, of India. I’m quite certain that when I go to Pakistan that I will have discussions about the defense concerns and the defense needs of Pakistan, but there has been no such agreement, as you called it, Anne. And as I’ve said to you I don’t expect that there are going to be any announcements out of this, but we, of course, have discussed this as well as a number of other issues about the defense needs of India.

FOREIGN MINISTER SINGH: It is known, India and the United States have an ongoing dialogue on defense, on various aspects of it, on defense supplies, on defense equipment, and every issue was brought up, including F-16, and as the Secretary has said, no announcement is going to be made. We discussed every aspect of our defense relationship with the Secretary of State, and if anything else happens between now and lunch, I’ll let you know. (Laughter).

QUESTION: I got the sense that you. . . Both talked about the UN reforms, and I’m sure a discussion must have happened on the expansion of the UN Security Council. There’s a sense here that there’s some ambiguity on the U.S.’s own position on the expansion of the UN Security Council. One, will the United States support the expansion at all, and second, will you support India’s candidature as a permanent member in the UN Security Council? And, a quick question, too, for Mr. Natwar Singh: Sir, would you like the U.S. to make its position clear with regard to the expansion of the UN Security Council and India’s candidature into the council as a permanent member?

SECRETARY RICE: Thank you. We are at the beginning of discussions about UN reform, including of course, UN Security Council reform. Our view is that the reform of the United Nations has to be seen understood as a broad process, that there are many aspects of the UN that need reform, including, as we’ve said, Secretariat issues, General Assembly issues, Security Council issues, and agency issues, as well as management reforms. And so it’s not surprising that we continue to have these discussions with countries around the world. I believe Secretary General Annan has talked about the need to have intensive consultations. I myself have just appointed a special advisor, Ambassador Shirin Tahir-Kheli, who will full-time for me be engaged in discussions around the world about UN reforms. So, we’re just at the beginning of this. And, in that context, we have agreed to stay in touch with India and with others about how those discussions are going.

Let me make a broader point, separate from this, which is that the world is changing, obviously. There are countries like India that have emerged in recent years as major factors in the international economy, in international politics, taking on more and more global responsibilities. I was really quite interested in the fact that when we had the tsunami cooperation, which was a kind of ad-hoc arrangement for a while, to respond to the immediate needs of the tsunami, India was able, I’m told, to mobilize its ships and go to sea in about 48 hours or so. That’s extraordinary, and that shows that India’s potential is very great to help resolve humanitarian and other needs for the world, and so, we will continue to talk with people about Security Council reform, reform of the UN, but clearly we also note that there have been great changes in the world, and that international institutions are going to have to start to accommodate them in some way.

FOREIGN MINISTER SINGH: I just, I might add that to the previous question about the defense issue that we did express certain concerns about certain matters on the defense issue as to how it might pave some complications I think there are no serious differences of opinion. There are one or two items on which we don’t agree. Our relations will now reach a maturity but we can discuss these things freely and frankly and place our views firmly on record, and our views with regard to F-16 (inaudible).

Now with regarding security council: Yes, we did discuss and the Secretary of State is fully familiar with India’s stand that India is an aspiring candidate for an expanded and reformed security council. We a democracy of one billion people. Our UN record is impeccable. We have been in involved many, many peacekeeping operations. We have led discussions on de-colonization. We have led discussion on the end of aparthaied. In South Africa--I myself was for many years a top leader of the UN committee on de-colonization, where I worked with your colleagues Ambassador Plimpton, Ambassador (Inaudible), both of them last no more and with the father of your deputy here Bob Blake whose with us still, I mean the father.

Naturally we think that the world of 2005 has nothing to do with the world of 1945 and therefore it is imperative that the United Nations, if it is to be relevant and an effective instrument for maintaining peace and ensuring development and harmony, then it has to be drastically reformed. I also realize that the amendment to the UN charter is not an easy exercise. The charter has only been reviewed once, in 1963, when the non-permanent members were increased by four. So, the Security Council from eleven became fifteen.

Now there are many aspirants for the Security Council expansion and corporate membership. India, Japan, Germany and Brazil are working together and we are in touch with all our friends, including United States. We have got a chance of a very large number of countries, but let me add, quite categorically, that the amendment of the UN charter is a very, very complicated process. We are studying the report of the high-level panel appointed by the US Secretary General.

The Secretary General should be sending the report, I think today or tomorrow, to member of states and then we’ll have our comments, intensive discussions will take place. If I may, Madam, in your presence say, that obviously the United States should play a very, very important role in this particular exercise.

QUESTION: Madame Secretary, the Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi is indicating that he is willing to pull Italian forces out of Iraq if the security situation in that country has not improved, perhaps as early as September. What is the official U.S. response to Mr. Berlusconi’s announcement?

SECRETARY RICE: First is to note that the Italians have been steadfast in their support of the Iraqi people’s desire to have their aspirations for freedom met. They were early supporters of the Iraqi people through the coalition. The Italians suffered casualties as a result of their commitment there, including among the carabiniers, and I remember that when that happened that they had more volunteers that they could take to take the place of those people. So, the Italians have served and served bravely in support of democracy in Iraq.

As we move forward, we know that coalition partners are beginning to look at what the future of their commitment can be, and we understand that Prime Minister Berlusconi has said that they will look at conditions. They, of course, are also engaged in the training of Iraqi security personnel, and for all of us, the real issue is how quickly can we get Iraqi police, army, border guards trained so that Iraqis can do the security tasks necessary to sustain the Iraqi democratic process. And indeed, we were all heartened by the way the Iraqi security forces stepped up to the plate during the Iraqi elections, really being the core. I remember General Casey saying that during that period of time he couldn’t think of one case in which the coalition forces had to step in for Iraqi security forces. So, they are making a lot of progress. And, the real answer to Iraqi security will be when Iraqis can do those security tasks. So, I am quite certain, given the experience of working with the Italian government, given the experience of working with the Italian Ministry of Defense, that any decisions that the Italians make about their forces are going to be fully coordinated in a way that does not put at risk the mission. And whatever the Italians then decide, I want to be very clear that the United States and, I think especially the Iraqis appreciate what Italy has done, and what Italy will continue to do in the future in helping the Iraqis to sustain their democratic progress.

MODERATOR: Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much. Thank you, Excellencies.

2005/T4-4 Released on March 16, 2005

Secretary Condoleezza Rice, Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri

Remarks with Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri

Secretary Condoleezza Rice Ministry of Foreign Affairs Islamabad, Pakistan March 17, 2005

FOREIGN MINISTER KASURI: It's been a great pleasure to welcome Secretary of State Dr. Condoleezza Rice on her first official visit to Pakistan. Secretary Rice's visit to Pakistan, early in the second term of President Bush, underlines the importance attached by the United States to developing a robust partnership with Pakistan. I respect Secretary Rice's intellectual vigor, grasp of history and vision for a better future. I am confident that during her stewardship of U.S. foreign policy our bilateral relationship, which has assumed a strategic dimension, will contribute to global and regional peace, stability and prosperity.

I am strengthened in my belief because of what Secretary Rice told me during my visit to Washington that our relationship has both grown immeasurably in the last few years much beyond Afghanistan, Iraq and terrorism. We remain engaged in broadening and deepening our multifaceted relationship on a long-term basis for the mutual benefit of our two countries.

There is something missing so I am going to dictate that, but the rest is -- copies will be given to you.

I made specific proposals especially for discussion in security and strategic matters during our meeting today, which is probably not being given to you, and you can, if you have any doubt, you can ask us later.

Secretary Rice called on President Pervez Musharraf last evening. She praised President Musharraf for his courage and vision in promoting peace and stability in the region and for his concept of enlightened moderation. Dr. Rice had earlier met with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on her arrival yesterday. During these meetings and again this evening with her meeting with me, Secretary Rice reiterated the commitment of the United States to an expanded and sustainable long-term partnership with Pakistan. I had wide-ranging discussions with her covering bilateral relations as well as regional and international issues. We discussed steps to take our partnership to a new and higher level of engagement. We reviewed our bilateral cooperation and agreed to promote greater collaboration in the areas of security and defense as well as in economic and technological fields. We also focused on the importance of increasing market access of Pakistani products. I expressed satisfaction with the progress made with India on a number of CBMs. I did however emphasize to Dr. Rice that Pakistan desires durable peace with India and pointed out that this could only be achieved by resolving all outstanding issues, especially the Kashmir dispute. This is, of course, as you know, been a cause of perpetual tension during the last 57 years.

I also raised the issue of water security for Pakistan. In this context, I discussed the Baglihar dam and the Kishan Ganga project. We also touched on the situation in Afghanistan. Secretary Rice expressed her appreciation for the support extended by Pakistan for stabilization and reconstruction of Afghanistan. We exchanged views on UN Security Council reform, nonproliferation and the global war on terrorism. I am looking forward to working closely with her in building a strong and enduring relationship between Pakistan and the United States.

SECRETARY RICE: Thank you very much. I'd like to thank you, Minister Kasuri, for very productive meetings here and also for arranging a very (inaudible) for me here in Pakistan. We've known each over an extended period of time and we've remarked many times about how far the U.S.-Pakistani relationship has come in the last three and a half years. It is a relationship that is broader than the war on terrorism although we obviously admire the courage of the Pakistani leadership and the courage of the Pakistani people and armed forces in the fight against terrorism. We have also extended our relationship to America's interest and support for educational reform in Pakistan, for economic reform in Pakistan, our trade relationship. President Bush has pledged $3 billion over five years in economic and security assistance to Pakistan. So this was a broad and deep relationship.

We had an opportunity to talk about the warming relations between India and Pakistan I want to give my encouragement to the parties for continued progress along that front. It's extremely important for a region like this that Pakistan and India continue their efforts to improve relations, to remove barriers to interaction between their people. And as I did when I was in India, I noted that it is quite great to see cricket diplomacy, even if I don't myself understand cricket very well. (Laughter.) So it was a very good discussion about India and Pakistan. Obviously, it is important that all issues be on the table for eventual resolution and all of the parties, both India and Pakistan as well as the Kashmiris, believe that they have a future that can be secure and peaceful and free of terrorism and violence, but also a democratic future. And so we did have a very good discussion of that.

We talked about Pakistan's internal development and the need for a democratic path ahead for Pakistan, and I had a chance to talk with President Musharraf and the Prime Minister last night and with the Foreign Minister today. And we continue to work with Pakistan and we look forward to the evolution of a democratic path toward elections in 2007 for Pakistan.

The United States and Pakistan are working closely together also in this region with Afghanistan in the fight on terrorism, and of course I was just in Afghanistan for the first time and I want to take note of the increasingly productive relationship between Afghanistan and Pakistan, one that was really unthinkable some years ago has really begun to blossom. It is a relationship that could anchor an entire region in trade and in development, in economic commerce. It was once a region that had a great deal of economic vibrancy and we look forward to trying to help the regional actors, particularly Afghanistan and Pakistan, reestablish that economic vibrancy.

So all in all, I think it has been a very good discussion and I look forward to continuing it with you over dinner, Foreign Minister, and I think we will now take questions.

FOREIGN MINISTER KASURI: Thank you.

QUESTION: (Inaudible) Pakistan and India (inaudible). What is your comment on this?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, first of all, I do believe that bilateral discussions between the parties can not only serve to resolve tensions but are serving to resolve tensions. And it is the case that the United States has always said that it is prepared to help in any way that it can, but it can never do so in a way that tries to supplant the goodwill and the intention and the commitment of the parties to dialogue. And so we've been actually very impressed by the composite dialogue and want to see it continued.

As to specific issues between India and Pakistan, I'm really not prepared to comment. These are issues that the parties will have to resolve and I'm certain they'll find the appropriate mechanisms in which to do so.

MODERATOR: (inaudible) Associated Press (inaudible).

QUESTION: Madame Secretary, did you ask for and did you receive any specific assurances about when President Musharraf intends to give up his military post?

SECRETARY RICE: We did talk about the importance of democratic reform in Pakistan -- about getting on a road to democratic reforms that would, in fact, lead to free and fair elections in 2007. And that was the character of our discussion. I want to just note that Pakistan is a country that has come an enormously long way in the last several years. This is not the Pakistan of September 11th. It is not even the Pakistan of September 11th, 2002. And it is a credit to President Musharraf and his advisors and indeed to the Pakistani people that progress is being made in educational and other reforms, press reforms among them, that we would hope do lead to a future for Pakistan that is both democratic and tolerant of many different views, in other words pluralistic, and that is (inaudible) of the kind of extremism that of course does not believe in or intend to be involved in a democratic process.

And so we will always talk about the need for democracy. And it is central to our dialogue with every country in the world and it is also central for our dialogue here. And I found our Pakistani hosts to be more than willing and open to have those discussions.

FOREIGN MINISTER KASURI: I'd like to say something here because very important. (Inaudible) and democracy, there are quite a few ingredients to that. One of them, of course, is an independent and free media. I'm quite proud to say that Pakistan has one of the freest media in Asia. And that includes every single country in Asia.

Secondly, as far as women participation is concerned, gender equality issues, we have 40,000 women working at the local bodies level. We have 73 members in the National Assembly. We have quite a large number of women in the Senate.

On the minorities, probably Pakistan is the only country in the world, if I might say, that has granted two voting rights to minorities. I can't think of any country, in fact some countries will say is going overboard because it's a violation of one man, one vote. To minorities we give two votes; they elect the general members and they also get their own co-religionists in the National Assembly.

And furthermore, in the history of Pakistan, 57year history of Pakistan, we've never had such a strong opposition. We are 190 in government and there are 150 in the opposition in the National Assembly. So looked at from every point of view, I think we have a working democracy. We can never be perfect. It's a move towards perfection and we are continuing in that direction. And I agree with Secretary Rice that when we discussed this issue, we look forward to totally free and fair elections in 2007.

QUESTION: Madame Secretary, (inaudible) between India and Pakistan. But do you think that a durable peace can be achieved without the resolution of the core issue of Kashmir, which has been the source of three -- four wars between the two countries?

SECRETARY RICE: Certainly, I would expect that in the course of time, there will need to be resolution of all issues of concern to both sides. But let me be very clear that an improved atmosphere and efforts to bring the two sides together that really, if you look at three years ago or so, these efforts seem quite remarkable in and of themselves. That trend certainly helped to improve the atmosphere in which the difficult issues can be addressed and ultimately resolved.

I don't have any doubt that as much as we applaud the (inaudible) dialogue and all that has been achieved there, that there are still deep divisions and difficulties and that they need to be overcome. But if they can be overcome in an atmosphere of goodwill, an atmosphere of commitment to better relations between India and Pakistan, and a recognition that the future of these two great countries rest in peace between them, then I'm quite certain that all issues can eventually be resolved.

MODERATOR: (Inaudible), New York Times, yes sir?

QUESTION: Madame Secretary, you and the Pakistanis have discussed the possible sale of F16s, but it seems fairly clear that Congress is not going to approve any such deal as long as the lingering questions about A.Q. Khan's sales, particularly to Iran. Did you receive any new information or any new assurance during this visit that Pakistan will finally answer these questions?

SECRETARY RICE: Let me start by saying of course we have had broad discussions about the defense requirements of Pakistan. I think that's not surprising. We are very much in a strategic relationship with Pakistan and we've been discussing the defense requirements and we've been discussing military balance issues here in the region.

As to A.Q. Khan, I don't think there is any doubt that A.Q. Khan represented a threat not just to the United States but a threat also to Pakistan, to the region, to the international community as a whole. And we have had cooperation with Pakistan to try and make sure that the A.Q. Khan network is broken up, to get as much information as is possible. It's a network that we want to make certain that its tentacles are broken up as well and so we have cooperation with a number of countries on that front. But I do not doubt that we all have an interest in knowing what happened, that we all have an interest in making sure that this network cannot -- it does not continue to operate in any way. And perhaps most importantly, we all have an interest in knowing how it happened so that we can safeguard against this kind of black market entrepreneurship in the future.

FOREIGN MINISTER KASURI: On this issue I'd like to say something. The international community got wise to it much later. President Musharraf, off his own back, as it were, in 2001 removed Dr. A.Q. Khan from the position in (inaudible) laboratories. In view of his status in Pakistan as the father of the bomb as he was called, he was removed and given (inaudible) high-sounding title of advisor to the prime minister and his entry into (inaudible) laboratory was banned. That was not an easy decision for President Musharraf or for any leader to take. It required a lot of courage. So he didn't act when our friends pointed out and friendly agencies -- from some friendly countries, agencies from friendly countries, pointed out certain facts to the President. He took the action on their doubt when there was no proof available. I don't want to go into details, but he was removed much earlier than the information that was supplied to him.

SECRETARY RICE: Thank you.

QUESTION: Thank you.

SECRETARY RICE: Oh. Do we have another question? (Inaudible)

QUESTION: (Inaudible) in your opening remarks you talked of the importance of the resolution of (inaudible) problem. But there -- it is -- (inaudible) that United States of America believes in (inaudible) and freedom. The United States Department (inaudible) Human Rights Report speak of growing human rights violation in the part of Kashmir occupied by India. Since you were in India, did you discuss this specific question with your interlocutors there so that you get a reassurance that human rights violation (inaudible) and the long sufferings of the Kashmiri people should come to an end and this problem will be resolved on the political (inaudible)? Can you comment?

SECRETARY RICE: Thank you. Well, it is obviously the view of the United States that there should be no long-suffering people anywhere in the world who are denied the liberty that we all enjoy here, that we as Americans enjoy. The fact is that we do a human rights report; it speaks for itself. We've also talked about the need to end violence and terrorism in this area. And so there are a number of issues that need to be dealt with by all the parties and I think we've been very clear to Pakistan, to India, as to what we consider their responsibilities to be.

Thank you.

FOREIGN MINISTER KASURI: Thank you.

2005/T4-11 Released on March 17, 2005