US EDITION
COLUMNISTS
DIARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES

Search Rediff

Aziz rules out military coup in Pakistan

Pakistani Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz today ruled out the possibility of a military coup in his country in the wake of widespread opposition to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharief's commitment to the United States to withdraw its forces from Kargil.

"Democracy is strong in Pakistan. The army is not going to intervene. It has learnt its lessons," he said in an interview to BBC correspondent Tim Sebastian.

Aziz, who was grilled by Sebastian on Pakistan's role in precipitating the Kargil crisis, refused to commit Pakistan to a 'no-first-use' pledge on nuclear weapons.

"We want to use nuclear weapons as a deterrent against India's superior conventional weapons power. We would like to avoid it, but India should not attack us with nuclear and conventional weapons," he said.

Asked whether the Pakistani government would be able to deliver on its pledge to President Bill Clinton that the intruders would withdraw from Indian territory, Aziz said he was not sure if the "mujahideen" would heed Islamabad's advice.

Linking their withdrawal to progress in solving the 50-year-old Kashmir issue, he told Reuters Television, "We will at least make an appeal [to the militants]. Whether they respond will depend largely on how the international community addresses their concerns. If they are satisfied that some progress has been made, then obviously they will be encouraged to respond positively. Otherwise they are entitled to do what they wish to do."

Arriving in Islamabad ahead of Sharief, Aziz said that even if Pakistan succeeds in defusing the crisis, it would be a short-lived de-escalation of the worst stand-off in nearly 30 years. "Unless the Kashmir issue is resolved, any solution to the Kargil crisis will be temporary," he said.

Aziz said Clinton had given Pakistan a commitment to take a personal interest in kick-starting a stop-and-go dialogue between the two countries, a suggestion that India fears may mean mediation, which it stoutly rejects.

"The purpose [of the agreement] is to get a durable solution to the Kashmir issue and we are hopefully moving in that direction," he said.

The Kargil Crisis

Tell us what you think of this report