Pakistan Says Clinton Sent It an Ultimatum Over Terrorism
President-elect Bill Clinton has given Pakistan six months to refute Indian charges that it is sponsoring international terrorism, Pakistan’s government said Saturday.
U.S. officials in Washington said Friday that Pakistan would not be labeled a terrorist state for now, but they expressed concern about reports of Pakistani support for Kashmiri and Sikh militants in India.
Pakistani Foreign Secretary Shahryar Khan said Clinton’s message was contained in a letter delivered Thursday by U.S. Ambassador John Manjo.
Khan said that Pakistan was told it has four to six months to convince the incoming U.S. Administration that it is not backing secessionists in India’s violence-ridden states of Kashmir and Punjab. “The government of Pakistan is of course giving (Sikh and Kashmiri militants) moral, political and diplomatic support, but we are not giving them any military support,” Khan said.
He said Pakistan had not replied to the letter but the two nations will continue a dialogue that has gone on over the past year.
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