Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live Saturday
Bush Administration Works to Keep India/Pakistan Dispute Under Control
Aired December 29, 2001 - 17:01 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Tensions between nuclear rivals India and Pakistan are moving closer to what could become all-out war. The Bush administration is working to keep things from heating up. CNN White House correspondent Major Garrett has more on the president's call for peace.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MAJOR GARRETT, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From his ranch in Central Texas, President Bush telephoned the leaders of India and Pakistan, appealing again for calm between the nuclear armed powers. Meanwhile, war preparation intensified. Pakistanis and Indians living on the border fled in panic, and Pakistan moved some troops from the Afghan border in case of an Indian assault. That was the last thing the Bush White House wanted to see. Those Pakistani troops were deployed to intercept fleeing al Qaeda and Taliban.
India remains enraged over the mid-December terrorist attack on its parliament, an attack India blames on terrorist groups based in Pakistan.
L. K. ADVANI, INDIAN INTERIOR MINISTER (through translator): We have been suffering from terrorism for the last 15 years, but this time the Pakistani terrorists have gone too far.
GARRETT: Pakistan says it has arrested suspected terrorists.
ABDUL SATTAR, PAKISTANI FOREIGN MINISTER: What we have done is to place these people under detention so that they cannot carry out any further activity detrimental to peace.
GARRETT: After receiving a war briefing Friday from the commanding general of the war in Afghanistan, Mr. Bush said he was trying to diffuse the India/Pakistan powder keg.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My government and my administration is working actively to bring some calm in the region, to hopefully convince both sides to stop the escalation of force.
GARRETT: Using the same logic as the U.S., India says it has the right to strike Pakistan as a part of the war on terror. But since September 11, Pakistan has been a stout U.S. ally against Osama bin Laden and the Taliban. Even so, Mr. Bush can't ignore attacks on India, the world's largest democracy. On Friday, he praised Pakistan for acceding to U.S. demands and arresting terrorists.
BUSH: I'm pleased to note that President Musharraf has -- has announced the arrest of 50 extreme terrorists, extremists -- or terrorists, and I hope India takes note of that.
GARRETT (on camera): India/Pakistan dispute brings equal measures of peril and opportunity. War would vastly complicate U.S. military efforts in Afghanistan and weaken the anti-terror coalition. But if Pakistan moves against terror cells and both nations commit to negotiations on other issues, the White House believes India and Pakistan might be able to bury a deadly, decades-old conflict.
Major Garrett, CNN, Crawford, Texas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
