International
Ivanov visit will send strong signal to Pak.
By Vladimir Radyuhin
MOSCOW, FEB. 2. The Russian Foreign Minister, Igor Ivanov's visit to India is expected to send a strong signal to Pakistan on terrorism.
Diplomatic sources here said Russia had supported India more than any other country on its standoff with Pakistan. No other country had so clearly linked the December 13 attack on Parliament to terrorism and consistently referred to Jammu and Kashmir as India's territory.
Moscow had firmly rejected Islamabad's request to play a mediator in the India-Pakistan row. It bluntly told Pakistan that the resumption of a dialogue with India and better relations with Russia were possible only when it ceased to be a breeding ground for terrorists. Until then, Moscow was not prepared to maintain high-level contacts with Islamabad and Mr. Ivanov refused to add Pakistan to his tour of the region despite strong soliciting from the country.
In its official statements, Moscow had made no mention either of Kashmir as the underlying cause of the latest Indo-Pak. crisis or of the nuclear aspect of their confrontation, nor had it called for a pullback of forces from the border. No other major Parliament in the world has issued a statement that described the Indian stand on the crisis as ``justified.''
Sources did not rule out the possibility that the commonality of views on international and cross-border terrorism between India and Russia might be reflected in a joint statement on Mr. Ivanov's talks in Delhi.
Russia's Deputy Prime Minister, Ilya Klebanov, will also visit Delhi on the heels of Mr. Ivanov to attend the meetings of the Inter-Governmental Commissions on Defence and Economic Cooperation next week.
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