Posted on 01/15/2002 3:49:33 AM PST by Ranger
BEIJING (APP): Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, General Muhammad Aziz Khan arrived here Monday to discuss with his Chinese counterpart ways and means to further strengthening their bilateral cooperation in the defence sector.General Aziz who is accompanied by senior military officers of the three services is expected to meet top-level civil and military leadership during his week-long stay in China.
General Aziz is paying the visit on the invitation of General Fu Quanyou, Commander-in-Chief of Peoples Liberation Army (PLA).
On his arrival this morning, he was warmly received at the Beijing International Airport by the senior officials of the PLA, Pakistan Ambassador to China Riaz H.
Khokhar, Defence Attache Brig.
Saeed Sharif and other officials of Pakistan Embassy.
According to the Defence sources, the two sides during the talks will discuss and review the existing level of their defence cooperation.
Talking to APP, Ambassador Riaz Khokhar said that the two countries have normal military trade relations and the current visit is a part of their regular contacts.
He hoped that the visit help to discuss various aspects of their defence cooperation.
He said Pakistan and China enjoy exemplary relations in all fields.
Their cooperation in the Defence field plays a significant role in maintaining peace and stability in the region, he added.
Strictly demolition work. The cave complexes were even bigger than anyone imagined. They are bombing deep and wide to destroy the shafts and internal chambers. And they are learning new techniques for destroying massive underground complexes, which might become very useful knowledge, who knows?
By Jawed Naqvi
NEW DELHI, Jan 14: China said on Monday that it welcomed the easing of military tensions between India and Pakistan, virtually overshadowing separate remarks by Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes who asserted his country would not pullback troops from the border until Islamabad took some practical steps to stop cross-border terrorism in Kashmir.
Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue told reporters that the military build-up between India and Pakistan was discussed between visiting Chinese premier Zhu Rongji and Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. She said the two leaders also exchanged their perceptions on President Pervez Musharraf's address on Saturday.
"We in China believe it indicates a resolve to fight terrorism," Zhang said, adding that India's reaction to the globally applauded address had been equally encouraging. "The positive attitude of the two countries is something we welcome."
Asked to comment on the Chinese perception of the still existing tensions between India and Pakistan, a Chinese official accompanying Zhu told Dawn that the war clouds had thinned and both countries appeared keen to resolve their disputes peacefully.
Zhang declined to comment on China's possible stance should a war become inevitable. "This is a presumption that we do not share."
She said Zhu had congratulated Vajpayee for a positive outcome of the recent Saarc summit in Kathmandu, and he hoped that this would help foster closer regional cooperation among the South Asian countries.
Some Chinese leaders have been previously quoted as suggesting an approach to resolve the Kashmir issue along the lines of the Sino-Indian boundary question, thereby keeping the talks on the dispute separate from other bilateral issues. Zhang said such a recipe could be suggested by Beijing to resolve its own problems with its neighbours but it would not present it as a model to be followed.
In his banquet address to welcome Zhu, Vajpayee did mention the progress made on the boundary question with China. "The good progress in the clarification and confirmation of the Line of Actual Control signals this intention," he told Zhu.
GEORGE FERNANDES: More than the pleasant conversation between Zhu and Vajpayee that got extended because of their "pleasant and involved interaction" beyond the stipulated time, what had clearly pleased the Chinese was that Defence Minister George Fernandes, a known China-baiter, was kept in good check. So were the thousands of Tibetan refugees who were prevented by police from staging black flag demonstrations against Zhu's visit.
Zhang declined to comment on Fernandes' stated reluctance to pull back Indian troops from the border with Pakistan. But the Chinese stance was clearly one of confidence that Fernandes' comments not withstanding, the war-like situation in its neighbourhood had abated.
Fernandes said on Monday that mobilisation of the armed forces along the Pakistan-India border is complete and any de-escalation would take place "only after cross-border terrorism is effectively stopped".
Talking to reporters at the Foreign Correspondents' Club on the eve of his six-day visit to the US, Fernandes said: "Our forces are fully prepared for any eventuality."
The word eventuality was also used by President Musharraf's spokesman in Kathmandu, who said that China had promised to standby Islamabad in case of any eventuality. Zhang declined to comment on where the word stood in Beijing's current equation with both key neighbours.
Fernandes stressed that India wanted to settle outstanding disputes with Pakistan through peaceful negotiations but if that failed, it could explore other options.
Fernandes said New Delhi would give time to Gen Musharraf to translate his announcement to fight terrorism on the ground. He said that the Indian people were "fed up" with terrorist attacks, which he said were sponsored from across the border.
Stating that New Delhi had launched an intense diplomatic initiative to inform the world about the menace of cross-border terrorism, he said the build-up on the border after the Dec 13 attack on Parliament was "in response to the activity on the other side".
"A permanent solution to the menace of terrorism has to be found. India will not accept terrorism in any form or manifestation and it will be fought and defeated," he said, adding that the current status of Pakistan-India ties would prominently figure during his wide-ranging parleys with the US leadership.
Referring to the recent shelling in Kargil sector, Drass and Mushkoh Valley, Fernandes said this was not by terrorists but by the Pakistani army.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military has stepped up effort to shift its Afghanistan war operations from four Pakistani air bases, because of Pakistan's concerns about rising tensions with neighboring India, the Washington Post reported on Friday.
Citing Pakistani officials, the newspaper said Pakistan has quietly been discussing with the United States how long the U.S. military plans to remain at the bases that have been key components of the U.S. campaign.
The paper quoted unnamed officials as saying the Pentagon was moving quickly to shift air operations from Pakistan to other locations, such as newly obtained bases in the Central Asian nations of Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.
The report said the Pentagon was also focusing on preparing the large U.S.-built airport outside the Afghan city of Kandahar for a high rate of operations.
Tension between India and Pakistan flared up last month after India blamed Pakistan-based Islamic militants groups for a Dec. 13 attack on India's parliament in which 14 people, including the five gunmen died.
The newspaper quoted a senior Pakistani military official as saying that Pakistan notified the United States that the bases that it was using in Jacobabad and Pasni might be needed to put the Pakistani air force on a war footing. The notification came late last month as tensions between India and Pakistan escalated, the report said.
The senior Pakistani military official told the Post that the two bases in question were partially reclaimed by Pakistani forces, before formal notice had been given to the United States.
``It was such an emergency situation that the Pakistan air force was ordered to move straight into the airports while the discussions with the U.S. officials on this subject were held later,'' the official said. ``We are now co-sharing the two air bases with American forces.''
Another official said the Pakistan military originally argued that it would need to evict the U.S. forces altogether, but after extensive negotiations between senior officials, it agreed to let some U.S. forces remain there.
However Asad Hayauddin, a spokesman for the Pakistani embassy in Washington, denied that any Pakistani military aircraft were moved. Hayauddin told the newspaper that his government notified the United States late in December that if hostilities broke out with India, the Pakistani military planned to move forces onto some of the bases currently being used by U.S. forces.
I agree with you though that the resons for leaving have to do with Chinese pressure on Pakistan more than war foting.
Of particular interest are the listening posts in Pakistan. The communists are probably most concerned with those. Are they being shut down or will they be long term.
Still, China is trying to interfere.
Bump
You know, one of the best features of FreeRepublic is that multiple eyes get to dig into and examine issues; you showed that you had obviously been looking around at various articles on this news and found a lack of corroboration, something that most would take as the first signs of a questionable article, so rather I thank you for pointing that out.
When I then went an looked further I only found among a wide search only the Reuters article above. Curiously, very few are watching these hugely significant geopolitical shifts going on, fortunately you are. This very fact of the lack of news on this subject I would consider newsworthy in itself. So again, thanks.
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