Kashmir is a bilateral issue, says Mori

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, OCT. 30. Japan today reiterated that India and Pakistan should address the Kashmir issue directly, but urged both countries to exercise restraint, especially in the backdrop of the war against terrorism.

The visiting former Japanese Premier, Mr. Yoshiro Mori, said at a press conference after his meeting with the Prime Minister, Mr. A.B. Vajpayee, that Tokyo had ``taken note of'' terrorist activity in Jammu and Kashmir. Later in the evening, the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs said the issue of Jammu and Kashmir was a ``a direct consequence of cross-border terrorism and proxy war unleashed by Pakistan.'' In response to a question on the advocacy of restraint by Mr. Mori, she said, ``there was no lack of restraint, maturity or balance on India's part.''

Mr. Mori who has delivered a special message by the Japanese Premier to Mr. Vajpayee arrived here within days of Japan's decision to lift post-Pokharan sanctions on India. Japan's decision to remove economic restrictions was on account of the declaration of a moratorium on nuclear testing by India, progress in the field of non-proliferation and ``international circumstances'', Mr. Mori said.

The attacks on the U.S. had further added to the urgency of forging a ``global partnership'' between the two countries, he said. Mr. Mori pointed out that Japan and India were set to develop a multi-dimensional relationship that also included cooperation in the field of defence.

Referring to the situation in Afghanistan, Mr. Mori said that India and Japan could focus their attention on the reconstruction of war-torn Afghanistan. ``India and Japan are not in a position of undertaking direct action,'' he said, adding that Tokyo had already noted India's decision to participate in the Afghanistan's reconstruction exercise and its willingness of render humanitarian relief to the Afghan refugees.

Mr. Mori said that the post-conflict political transition in Afghanistan needed to be undertaken by the Afghans themselves. He, however, declined to comment on the proportion in which the ethnic communities represented by the Northern Alliance and the Pashtuns could participate in post-Taliban political arrangement.

Asked whether Japan held Pakistan responsible for exporting terrorism, Mr. Mori said that ``on Pakistan connection to terrorism , we simply do not know precisely.'' He, however, added that the world community needed to focus on specific sets of action which may become necessary to defeat terrorism.

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