Congressional Statements

Pallone says Congressional appeal for U.S. envoy on Kashmir is "counterproductive"

Press Release
September 28, 1999

As a group of Members of Congress released a letter calling on President Clinton to appoint a Special Envoy to achieve a settlement of the Kashmir conflict, Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr., D-NJ, said such a proposal would only serve as an attempt at appeasing the Sharif government without contributing to peace and stability in the region.

A recent published report indicates that the Sharif government has for the first time officially confirmed that the Prime Minister was deeply involved in the Kargil operation and that he was in close contact with the army during the operation. According to a published report, Pakistani Parliamentary Secretary for Defense Khursheed Zaman told an Urdu publication that there was "complete understanding" between the Prime Minister and GHQ (Army headquarters) on the Kargil operation and that Sharif was given "minute-to-minute details" of the operation and that decisions were made on his recommendations.

Said Pallone: "Mr. Sharif's aides are trying to convince American officials that we must help to prop up the current Pakistani government. Obviously, one of the major concessions that they are seeking is a U.S. commitment to mediate the Kashmir conflict.

"The bottom line is that Mr. Sharif was apparently directly involved in the ill-fated Kargil operation -- contrary to Pakistani claims that it was the work of locally-based insurgents with only moral and political support from Pakistan. When the incursion failed, Mr. Sharif tried to salvage some kind of diplomatic victory. Based on this new information, I don't think Mr. Sharif deserves such a prize from the U.S."

"This is not the story that the Pakistani government wants to circulate in the U.S. The Pakistani spin is that we should do all we can to prevent the collapse of the Sharif government -- including the appointment of a mediator for Kashmir, as well as providing arms and other support to the government. Given that Mr. Sharif's government was involved in what was clearly one of the most destabilizing events in South Asia in many years, it's hard to see the justification."

Pallone said he regretted that 45 Members of the House of Representatives and 15 Senators have signed a letter to President Clinton urging him to consider appointing a Special Envoy and proposing a strengthening of the UN Military Observers Group to monitor the situation along the Line Of Control. When the letter was first circulated in July, Pallone wrote to President Clinton urging that he not support the Pakistani position in internationalizing the bilateral Kashmir issue.

"This letter will obviously be depicted by Prime Minister Sharif and his supporters as a victory for Pakistan," Pallone said. "Hopefully the Administration will continue to recognize that the U.S. should not just impose an Envoy on India. Secretary of State Albright has indicated that her goal is to persuade India and Pakistan to step up their bilateral negotiations within existing frameworks. That's as far as the U.S. Should go.

"The UN Military Observer Group is also a bad idea. The line of control is supposed to be managed on a bilateral basis. Now that Pakistan has shown completely bad faith in violating the Line Of Control, contrary to what they have committed to in past agreements, they are now seeking to internationalize the very same border."