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CNN LIVE EVENT/SPECIAL

Target Terrorism: Powell Offers Condolences to India Over Kashmir Casualties

Aired October 2, 2001 - 14:47   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JASWANT SINGH, INDIAN DEFENSE MINISTER: Thank you very much. But there is really -- I cannot improve upon what my colleague has just said.

As always, it has been a great pleasure. We've had a very good discussion. India's commitment to values that we share with the United States of America, to democracy, to free speech, to freedom of individuals, to a certain way of life of which terrorism is the very antithesis, and our commitment to stand shoulder to shoulder with the United States of America for these values and this fight against terrorism is in no fashion any less than anyone else's.

We deeply, grieve at this great tragedy that visited upon the United States of America, and as a gesture of solidarity -- as a gesture of unity with the United States, therefore, the prime minister commissioned me to carry two urns which are presented to the mayor of New York, one of waters from nine of the most famous rivers of India and then soil of India with the request that whenever a memorial is built there, these be placed at the memorial as a gift and a contribution of the people of India as between two natural allies who continue to fight this new menace that the world is now confronting.

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: Thank you, sir.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, has the administration been working on and come close to unveiling a new comprehensive plan for peace in the Middle East, including the U.S. unequivocal endorsement of statehood? Was that plan side-tracked by the events of September 11? And is that plan or some new version of it going to be unveiled soon?

POWELL: Well, you speak of a plan, but we've had a plan since the administration came into office in January. And that plan was to do everything we could to get violence down to the lowest possible levels in the region, and then, once we had the Mitchell plan completed, to embark upon the Mitchell plan which would bring us to a point through confidence-building and a cease-fire so that we begin the negotiations again between the Palestinians and the Israelis.

As the president said this morning, there has always been a vision in our thinking as well as in previous administrations' thinking, that there would be a Palestinian state that exists at the same time that the security of the state of Israel was also recognized, guaranteed and accepted by all parties. That vision is alive and well, and we hope that it will come about as a result of negotiations between the two sides.

So in that regard, there is nothing new and, in fact, as you heard earlier, reflects statements also made by Prime Minister Sharon as recently as last week.

We are always reviewing what we can do, how we can make our statements clearer, and I'm always considering what statements I can make in order to make sure people understand the American position.

But the events of September 11 don't really play into this. We were hard at work before the 11th of September on trying to help in the region, and we are hard at work after the 11th of September. In fact, immediately after the tragedy of 11 September I was on the phone the very next day trying to reenergize activity so we can get into the Mitchell plan.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, let me ask you, sir, a question. Do you agree with the Indian foreign affairs minister, Mr. Jaswant Singh, what he said yesterday at the White House, that this is the same group, same (inaudible), same kind of people, but running in different names all over the world, including in India?

Now, as far as this bombing in India is concerned, some officials in India blame Pakistan. If you agree with that. And also, if you are ready to close down, or I would say that until you close down all the terrorist centers, training centers in Pakistan, we can never have peace in the area.

POWELL: We are against terrorism. This clearly was an act of terror. And as the president made it clear in his statements and in his speech week before last, we are going after terrorism in a comprehensive way, not just in the present instance of al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden, but terrorism as it affects nations around the world, to include the kind of terrorism that affects India.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, can I follow up on that? When you talk about the initial war on terrorism of getting Osama bin Laden and his network, do you include freedom fighters on the Pakistani side of the line-of-control in Kashmir, many of whom trained in Osama bin Laden's camps in Afghanistan, as those who need to be eliminated? Will you get tough on the Pakistani government to do something about that or is there a difficulty here, because of Pakistan's role?

And, Mr. Foreign Minister, as the U.S. is working very closely with Pakistan right now in the war against terrorism, do you think that President Musharraf can be trusted as a full partner in the war against terrorism? Thank you.

POWELL: We are going after the Al Qaeda network and its various manifestations, and Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants who are in Afghanistan, in the first instance.

And as I said previously and as the president has said repeatedly, we are going to be conducting a campaign that goes after terrorism, and we'll use many tools -- financial tools, intelligence, law enforcement, diplomatic and political tools -- to accomplish the mission that the president has set before us.

SINGH: If the leadership of Pakistan and if Pakistan were to abandon the past of violence and of terrorism and join the rest of the international community in its fight against this evil, it would be a development that India would welcome very much.

POWELL: Thank you.

SINGH: Thank you very much.

JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: You've been listening to Secretary Colin Powell, Secretary of State Powell meeting with the Indian foreign defense minister, Jaswant Singh, among other things expressing their solidarity, they're together. They're saying the United States and India in the fight against terrorism. But some intriguing comments coming just now from the secretary of state about the United States being willing to recognize a Palestinian state.

Reports in several major newspapers this morning, "The Washington Post" and "The New York Times," saying that right, that just before the events of September 11th, Secretary Powell was about to give a speech underlining U.S. support for a Palestinian state. And what we've heard from the White House now and just now from Mr. Powell is that the administration has all along foreseen a Palestinian state as the end product of peace negotiations.

But the timing of all this coming out, very, very interesting.

Our coverage of "America's New War" continues.

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