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CNN Sunday Morning

Blair to Encourage Dialogue Between India, Pakistan

Aired January 06, 2002 - 09:10   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: British Prime Minister Tony Blair is pushing India and Pakistan to open a dialogue. He will visit top leaders in New Delhi tonight, before traveling to Islamabad tomorrow.

CNN's Maria Ressa is covering Mr. Blair's visit and joins us now live from New Delhi with the latest -- Maria.

MARIA RESSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Martin, exactly at this point right now, Prime Minister Vajpayee is meeting with Tony Blair. They have been meeting now for nearly half an hour. Mr. Blair, after this, will go on to Pakistan on Monday where he will meet with President Pervez Musharraf. He is here to try to ease tensions between these two nuclear rivals.

During the past two days since he's been here, Mr. Blair has categorically stated that there can not be any support for terrorist activities. Now these are welcome words here in India, particularly because India claims the conflict is not about India and Pakistan. It is about India and terrorism. Indian officials say they hope Mr. Blair will bring that same message to Pakistan.

At this point, India wants Pakistan to stop shielding and supporting terrorists India claims are behind the December 13 attack on the Indian Parliament. Now there are signs that Pakistan has moved on that. It's arrested nearly 300 Islamic militants the past few days, but India says that's not enough and there's a major sticking point.

Pakistan makes a very clear distinction between terrorists and freedom fighters. That is what Pakistan calls the groups fighting Indian rule in Kashmir, groups Pakistan admits giving diplomatic and moral support to. This is where India is looking to the West to be very clear in its definition of terrorism. India wants the U.S. and Great Britain to apply the same standard to Pakistan as it did to Afghanistan -- Martin.

SAVIDGE: Maria, I was curious -- first of all, did Mr. Blair, was he the one that initiated this traveling, and also when it comes to India, what was their anticipated reaction to him coming? Were they anxious to meet with him, or really didn't -- saw him as an interloper perhaps?

RESSA: Well certainly Mr. Blair is seen here as sort of an envoy of the United States. Before he left for South Asia, he had several calls with President Bush. And the way the Indian Government is looking to this, the United States is playing quite a key role in this because it's really the U.S. definition of the war on terrorism.

How is the U.S. defining that? Is it staying within the confines of Afghanistan, or will it move forward and include what India claims are terrorists within its own grounds?

Now if it does, of course India has a very -- the U.S. has a very difficult balancing act, because India has pinpointed the terrorists on Pakistani soil. So the U.S. needs to balance this and what it decides is going to help determine where the next front is going to be. Martin.

SAVIDGE: Maria Ressa, joining us from New Delhi this morning. Thanks very much.

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