Musharraf Accepts Putin's Invitation for Talks with India - 2002-06-04

General Pervez Musharraf, the President of Pakistan, has accepted an invitation from Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, to travel to Moscow for talks with India aimed at ending military tensions in South Asia. General Musharraf, speaking today at a regional security conference in Almaty, Kazakhstan, stated that Mr. Putin is also prepared to invite Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the Prime Minister of India, to Moscow. However, it remains unclear whether Mr. Vajpayee will accept this invitation. Previously, the Russian leader had told reporters that General Musharraf had proposed positive and constructive suggestions to end the military tensions between India and Pakistan at the Kashmir border. Mr. Putin did not elaborate on the details of General Musharraf's proposals but mentioned that he had shared them with Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the Prime Minister of India. It is expected that on the sidelines of the regional security conference in Kazakhstan, Mr. Putin and Jiang Zemin, the President of China, will hold separate discussions with the leaders of India and Pakistan. India and Pakistan, two rival nuclear powers in South Asia, have stationed about one million soldiers along their shared borders in Kashmir. Today, leaders from both countries accused each other of escalating military tensions using the platform of the regional conference. Mr. Vajpayee, in his speech at the conference, accused Pakistan of failing to fulfill its promise to curb cross-border terrorism in the disputed region of Kashmir. General Musharraf also stated at the conference that the people of South Asia are paying a heavy price for India's refusal to resolve the Kashmir issue.