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Indo-Pak tensions among 'four threats'
to world peace: Annan

Dharam Shourie at the United Nations

Terming tensions between India and Pakistan as one of the "four threats" to world peace, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Thursday said if a fresh crisis erupts between the two countries, "the international community might have a role to play."

In a speech prepared for delivery to the United Nations General Assembly later in the day, Annan also issued a veiled warning to the United States against acting alone against Iraq.

Besides Indo-Pak tension and Iraq, he also listed continuing instability in Afghanistan and the Israel-Palestinian conflict as the other threats in his address, the text of which was given to the US Ambassador to UN John Negroponte 11 hours ahead of its delivery.

He said the situation between India and Pakistan might now have calmed down but it remains "perilious."

However, he said he "gladly" acknowledges and "strongly" welcomes the efforts made by "well-placed" member states of the United Nations to help the leaders of the two countries to find a solution.

"In South Asia, the world has recently come closer than for many years past to a direct conflict between two nuclear weapon capable countries," he said.

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf are among the world leaders attending the annual session of the assembly.

PTI

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