ISLAMABAD, 4 July — Britain’s Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon met President Pervez Musharraf here yesterday to discuss the hunt for Al-Qaeda militants and bolster efforts at reducing tensions between India and Pakistan, officials said.
The British High Commission said Hoon’s visit was aimed at "helping to defuse tension between India and Pakistan" which have been in a six-month military standoff over disputed Kashmir.
A Foreign Ministry official said Pakistan "explained in detail the measures it has taken to ease tensions with India." Hoon and his hosts agreed on the need for de-escalation, a ministry statement said.
"The Pakistan side stressed the imperative need for meaningful de-escalatory steps by India and the resumption of a sincere and result-oriented dialogue on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute," it said. Top military intelligence officers also briefed Hoon on operations by thousands of Pakistani troops to capture Al-Qaeda fighters in the semi-autonomous tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, the official said. The operations have been criticized by officials in British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s administration, according to a report in London’s Sunday Telegraph.
The paper quoted one official accusing US and Pakistani forces of "blundering" by adopting a "march in shooting" approach in the deeply sensitive tribal areas.
The approach was "backfiring" and alienating tribal leaders in the remote border zones, the official said. "We (Britain) have years of experience in the tribal areas and we know that using force will just backfire and increase sympathy for Al-Qaeda."
Hoon was continuing his South Asia peace mission in New Delhi later yesterday, where he is set to meet Indian Defense Minister George Fernandes ahead of talks today with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.
Britain and the United States spearheaded an intensive diplomatic campaign late May to avert war between the nuclear-armed neighbors over the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw rushed to Islamabad on May 28 and pressed Musharraf to clamp down on cross-border incursions by Pakistan-based militants into Indian-held Kashmir.
Hoon also discussed bilateral defense issues with Pakistani defense officials before leaving for New Delhi, the Foreign Ministry said. He met Pakistan’s naval chief Adm. Abdul Aziz Mirza and Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Shahid Aziz. Hoon praised Pakistan’s efforts in the war against terrorism when he arrived in Islamabad Tuesday at the Chaklala air base.
"We value very much the support given by Pakistan to both the wider international community as well as to the United Kingdom," he was quoted as saying by the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan.
"I am delighted by the strong support that Pakistan has given to the international campaign against terrorism."
