New Delhi: In a statement that goes against India's stand, former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright today (Dec 13, 2003) favoured a referendum or plebiscite to ascertain the wishes of the people of Kashmir, which she described as one of the "most dangerous and tragic places in the world".

At the same time, emphasising on the need to institutionalise the ceasefire and stop cross-border terrorism in the State, she said Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's peace initiative was very important and hoped that Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf would understand the importance of India's overtures.

In her concluding address at the two-day Leadership Initiative conference on 'Peace dividend – Progress for India and South Asia' organised by 'Hindustan Times' in New Delhi, Albright talked about the plight of the ordinary Kashmiri people who had been "buffered between terrorists on the one side and security forces that had sometimes failed to observe basic human rights".

In reply to a question by National Conference president Omar Abdullah, the former Secretary of State said she believed a referendum or plebiscite was the best way to ascertain the wishes of the Kashmiri people.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the conference, she said Vajpayee has made "some very important steps in terms of understanding the reality of living side by side and I think this initiative is very important".

Albright said, "One would hope that he (Musharraf) would understand the importance of the overtures and initiatives that Prime Minister Vajpayee has made."

Touching upon Afghanistan in her address to the conference, Albright said Americans had made a strategic mistake there. The first mistake was ordering US troops to pull back from Afghanistan following the withdrawal of Soviet troops.

This mistake, she said, was further compounded when, following the invasion of Afghanistan post 9/11, the administration failed to follow through with both adequate humanitarian aid and relief packages.

The US had failed to stabilise the situation, she said adding, "The Afghan Army was supposed to have had 70,000 troops. It has only 4,000." Two years ago, when the Taliban was driven from power, hopes were high of a new era, Albright said.

"Unfortunately, Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar are still at large and warlords continue to rule. Heroin and poppy production has risen by 3,600 per cent and crime is widespread," she said adding, "There is no effective international peace-keeping beyond Kabul."

Albright said al-Qaeda, the target of the US invasion, had not only "survived but thrived". She sought the help of the international community to help organise another reconstruction conference and "drive the Taliban and al-Qaeda out of business permanently". Albright also spoke about the costs of war not only in terms of its human toll, but also in terms of triggering off a possible nuclear catastrophe.

She reaffirmed her opposition to India and Pakistan's decisions to conduct nuclear tests in 1998. "I was accused of being arrogant and a hypocrite back then," she recalled but added that she had not changed her basic position.

In reply to a question by a former Indian diplomat C Gharekhan, she said she supported India's claim for a permanent seat in the expanded UN Security Council.

PTI



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Kashmir is NOT negotiable