Zardari admits terrorists operating in J-K, India not a threat

New York, Oct 5 (PTI) Declaring that India is not a "threat" to his country, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has described the militants operating in Jammu and Kashmir as "terrorists", the first such admission by any top Pakistani leader.

"India has never been a threat to Pakistan. I, for one,
and our democratic government is not scared of Indian
influence abroad," Zardari told 'Wall Street Journal' in an
interview

He spoke of the militant groups operating in Kashmir
as "terrorists," the paper said noting that former President
Pervez Musharraf would more likely have called them "freedom
fighters."

Indicating a major shift in Pakistan's well known
position, Zardari had, as chief of Pakistan People's Party,
said in March that the ties between two countries should not
be held "hostage" to the Kashmir issue, which should be left
for future generations to decide, raising hackles at home.

The latest positive signals from Zardari come days
after his maiden meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
here on the sidelines of U.N. General Assembly meeting.

Replying to a question, Zardari said he had no
objection to the India-U.S. nuclear deal so long as Pakistan
is treated "at par."

"Why would we grudge the largest democracy in the world
getting friendly with one of the oldest democracy?" he said.

Asked whether he would consider a free-trade agreement
with India, the paper said he responded with a "string of
welcome, perhaps even historic, surprises."

While seeking better ties with New Delhi, he noted that
"there is no other economic survival for nations like us. We
have to trade with our neighbours first."

About Pakistan's economic crisis -- the central bank
has about two months' worth of foreign currency reserves left
to pay for the country's imports of oil and food -- Zardari
said he looks to the world to "give me USD 100 billion."

The paper says he imagines Pakistani cement factories
being constructed to provide for India's huge infrastructure
needs, Pakistani textile mills meeting Indian demand for blue
jeans, Pakistani ports being used to relieve the congestion at
Indian ones.

Against the backdrop of the U.S.-Pakistan row over the
cross-border raids in the restive tribal belt by coalition
forces from Afghanistan, Zardari said "I am an American
friend" and admitted that the U.S. is carrying out Predator
missile strikes on the Pakistani soil with his government's
consent, the paper reported.

"We have an understanding, in the sense that we're
going after an enemy together," he said.
"I am not going to fall for this position that it's an
unpopular thing to be an American friend. I am an American
friend," he said.

About the Pakistani security forces firing on the
U.S. aircraft, he said it was merely an incident, "and while
incidents do happen, they are not important."

Zardari also acknowledged the problem that had
bedevilled past efforts at U.S.-Pakistani cooperation,
particularly in intelligence sharing: the widely held
suspicion that Pakistani intelligence services continue to
cooperate with, and even arm, the Taliban.

"You know, you keep an uglier alternative around so
that you may not be asked to leave," he said, in reference to
allegations that while Musharraf was fighting Islamic radicals
with one hand, he was protecting them with the other.

Zardari refused to go into further detail other than to
say he "solved the problem". The head of I.S.I. Nadeem Taj was
replaced this week by Ahmad Shuja Pasha.