Fair Elections Key in Soothing Kashmir Tensions, Powell Says

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell on Sunday called on Pakistan and India to avert war by ensuring that fall elections in disputed Kashmir are free, fair and devoid of violence as a “first step” leading to a formal dialogue between the two nuclear powers.

Powell specifically appealed to India to free Kashmiri political prisoners so they can participate, either as candidates or voters, in the polling expected by mid-October. He also said international observers should be allowed to monitor elections in the disputed Himalayan region.

The secretary then called on Pakistan to follow through on a promise made last month to end, permanently, all infiltrations by Muslim extremists into Kashmir.

After talks in New Delhi and Islamabad, the first stops in a weeklong, eight-nation Asia tour, Powell said he was encouraged.

“Everyone is focused on the need to get tensions down and ensure that it doesn’t start over again,” he told reporters traveling with him. Escalating clashes, sparked by a Dec. 13 terrorist attack by Kashmiri militants on India’s Parliament, brought the nuclear powers to the brink of war last month.

The United States is now looking at the election for the Jammu and Kashmir state parliament as a means to address the major concerns of both nations--greater political autonomy for Muslim Kashmiris living under the rule of Hindu-dominated India and an end to terrorist attacks by Muslim militants against India.

“Elections can be a first step in a broader process that begins to address Kashmiri grievances and leads India and Pakistan back to dialogue. Only a productive and sustained bilateral dialogue on all issues, including Kashmir, will prevent future crises and will finally bring peace to the region,” Powell said Sunday at a news conference in New Delhi.

Powell began the day in India, where he urged Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and other top leaders to ensure that the Kashmir poll is judged to be credible by both Kashmiris and the outside world.

“Moderate elements should be encouraged. There should be the release of those who have been detained who can play a positive role in generating turnout. There should be hopefully an atmosphere of safety and peace provided by both sides,” Powell said.

India has jailed about two dozen separatist politicians who do not support violence, including the leader of a prominent Muslim party, according to U.S. officials. Without their participation, many Kashmiris may boycott the polls, fueling more extremism, U.S. officials fear.

India has balked so far at allowing any organized monitoring of the election, the first in Kashmir since 1996, although it said it may permit some individuals to witness the voting.

“We have a very independent election commission. We have a very proud record of elections in this country, and I can assure you that the Jammu and Kashmir elections will be free and fair,” Indian Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha said before meeting Powell on Saturday evening.

But Kashmiris and Pakistanis have challenged the fairness of past elections, saying they were marred by intimidation and fraud.

Without open participation and sufficient international observers, Powell warned, the outside world may not “judge the elections in a proper way and an opportunity may have been lost.”

Powell flew to Islamabad, the Pakistani capital, on Sunday afternoon for talks with President Pervez Musharraf about reining in Muslim extremists who have used Pakistan to receive training and supplies and then cross into Kashmir.

Musharraf publicly turned aside suggestions from India that he has failed to follow through on his June promise to clamp down on the extremists. “Whatever the Indian side is saying is absolutely baseless. I don’t have to do anything because we’ve already done it,” he said as he greeted Powell at the presidential complex.

Powell later said the United States was unable to verify the specific claims of either side, although he said incursions had continued.

Powell, who described the talks in Pakistan as “forceful,” later told reporters that he had won a solid commitment from Musharraf and Pakistan’s intelligence chief to close the gaps that still allow extremist incursions into Kashmir.

Musharraf, the increasingly beleaguered general who seized power in 1999, also reaffirmed that it was a “permanent decision.”

The next 10 weeks will be key in determining whether both sides are serious about peace efforts, Powell told reporters en route to Thailand, his third stop of the day.

“We have now an interesting period ahead of us where we will measure how infiltrations have gone down. If it goes down, then we have the basis for going back to India and saying it’s time to take further de-escalatory steps,” Powell said. “As evidence becomes clear, we’re in a better condition to ensure dialogue.”