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CNN Sunday Morning

Tensions Remain High Between India, Pakistan

Aired January 06, 2002 - 07:20   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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Britain's prime minister and his Indian counterpart, Atal Bihari Vajpayee will be talking today in New Delhi.

That's where CNN's Jakarta bureau chief Maria Ressa is this morning.

Good morning, Maria.

MARIA RESSA, CNN JAKARTA BUREAU CHIEF: Good morning, Kyra.

Well, despite the handshakes in Nepal, tensions remain high between India and Pakistan even as the two leaders met at that regional summit, as they shook hands, as border shelling continued across the border between India and Pakistan.

At the same time, pressure continued to grow here in New Delhi for the Indian government to take firm action and retaliation for the December 13 attack on the Indian parliament. At this point, India's Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has just landed in New Delhi from Nepal. He's expected to meet with Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair just about an hour and a half from now.

Mr. Blair is here to try to ease tensions between these two nuclear nations. At the same time, while he's been here, he has categorically stated that there cannot be any support for terrorists. Now, these are welcome words for India because India claims that this conflict is not about India and Pakistan; it is a conflict about India and terrorism.

While this has been going on, India says that it wants Pakistan to stop supporting terrorists. Now, this is difficult because Pakistan makes a distinction between terrorists and freedom fighters. This is what Pakistan calls groups fighting Indian rule in Kashmir, groups Pakistan admits giving diplomatic and moral support to.

What India says it wants is for the U.S. and Great Britain to apply the same standard to Pakistan as they did to Afghanistan -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Maria, does Tony Blair stand any chance of getting India and Pakistan to have meaningful dialogue? What's the relationship or the history with Tony Blair and these two leaders? RESSA: Well, certainly, Mr. Blair is here. He is seen as a mean -- as an end to try to get the U.S. At this point, both India and Pakistan are really looking to the United States to try to set the tone in this. Pakistan has asked for some kind of third party intervention. India has been very careful in saying that it is welcoming any help to try to ease tensions, but it does not want third party intervention on a domestic issue like Kashmir.

At this point, the main point for India is that the U.S. has to be very clear on its definition of terrorism and on how far the war on terrorism is supposed to go. As far as India is concerned, that war on terrorism has no landed on Indian soil and it wants the U.S. help in going after those terrorists -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Jakarta bureau chief Maria Ressa, thank you so much.

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