Vol. 8 Issue 7 - Public International Law & Policy Group

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State officials say they hope to see tourists return to the scenic Himalayan region as it enjoys a period of relative calm following the start of the peace process. "This will surely put Kashmir on the global tourism map," said Farooq Ahmed Shah, region's tourism chief, welcoming international flights to Srinagar. "It will help us in attracting more tourists from the Middle and Far East countries," he said. Muslim rebels are believed to have targeted foreign tourists in the region only once, in 1995, when six were kidnapped. One escaped, another was beheaded and the fate of the other four was never known. Many foreign governments, including the US and Britain, advise their citizens against making trips to the region. "It was great to be part of the inaugural flight. I wish more people would use the service," said passenger Manzoor Wangnoo, who sells rugs in Dubai. US envoy's India visit focuses on Pakistan Elizabeth Roche, Agence France Presse, 2/16/09 Senior US diplomat Richard Holbrooke met Indian leaders on Monday for talks that focused on the global threat from Pakistan-based militants in the wake of the Mumbai attacks. Holbrooke, the new US envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan, was in New Delhi at the end of a regional tour that included visits to Islamabad and Kabul. "India, the United States and Pakistan all have a common threat now," Richard Holbrooke told reporters in New Delhi after meeting Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee. "For the first time in 60 years since independence, your country (India) and Pakistan and the United States all face an enemy that poses a direct threat to our leadership, our capitals and our people." His comments came on the day the Pakistan government signed an agreement with Islamic hardliners to enforce sharia law in Pakistan's northwestern Swat valley. Holbrooke was appointed to implement a new US strategy in South Asia under President Barack Obama, who plans to boost troop numbers in Afghanistan and to force Islamabad to eradicate Al-Qaeda safe havens inside Pakistan. India has labeled Pakistan the "epicenter of terrorism" in the region and has accused it of sheltering Islamic groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is widely blamed for November's attacks on Mumbai.
New Delhi has noted with strong approval that Holbrooke's tour coincided with Islamabad's admission that part of the Mumbai attacks, in which 165 people were killed, was indeed planned in Pakistan. "Until the Mumbai attacks, the perception in Washington was that the US is fighting the global war against terror and that India was fighting a local war against terror," said Lalit Mansingh, former Indian ambassador to Washington. "But that has changed. Now there is a better understanding that there is little difference between so-called global and local terror groups." New Delhi was also reported to have warned the US over military aid to the region. Pakistan is seeking billions of dollars to combat the Islamist threat from its northwestern tribal belt that became a stronghold for extremists who fled Afghanistan after the Taliban fell in 2001. Pakistani commanders say they need helicopters, drones and an array of new military equipment to tackle the Taliban fighters, but India is skeptical about their intentions. "We have heard that Pakistan's wish list for fighting terror includes precision-guided missiles. We have our doubts about whether Pakistan intends to use them to hunt down insurgents," said one diplomatic source. Since independence in 1947, mutual suspicion has characterized ties between nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan, who have fought two of their three wars over the Himalayan region of Kashmir. According to reports, Islamabad told Holbrooke it would be better able to focus on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border if the issue of divided Kashmir was resolved. But India is adamant that Kashmir remains "a bilateral issue" with Pakistan. Pakistan has been a vital US ally since former president George W. Bush invaded neighboring Afghanistan to oust the Taliban regime for sheltering Al-Qaeda after the September 11, 2001 attacks. But relations have soured, not least after dozens of suspected US missile strikes against militants inside Pakistan. Holbrooke will report back to Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton after leaving India on Monday having completed his first tour of the region in his new capacity. Return to Table of Contents
Page 1 and 2: PEACE NEGOTIATIONS WATCH Thursday,
Page 3 and 4: Kosovo marks 1 year of independence
Page 5 and 6: Whitman said he could not discuss p
Page 7 and 8: "Now that we have realized this is
Page 9 and 10: "However, the aforesaid statements
Page 11 and 12: The court has linked the former Bos
Page 13 and 14: The military regime has promised to
Page 15 and 16: Former US President George W. Bush'
Page 17 and 18: "How can we go on without the main
Page 19 and 20: "I don't want to be on the side of
Page 21 and 22: EU enlargement commissioner Olli Re
Page 23 and 24: "Have I said that Bosco Ntaganda ha
Page 25 and 26: The first victim of the operation h
Page 27 and 28: The five-day war and Russia's subse
Page 29 and 30: Tengku Syamsuddin, a spokesman for
Page 31: India and Pakistan have fought thre
Page 35 and 36: Serbs consider Kosovo to be the hea
Page 37 and 38: "The key to our success is in unity
Page 39 and 40: Macedonia EU mulls economic support
Page 41 and 42: "As for the content of the document
Page 43 and 44: The UN Security Council has called
Page 45 and 46: Moro Islamic Liberation Front which
Page 47 and 48: Somalia Overcrowding at Kenya refug
Page 49 and 50: "We are happy with that," he said,
Page 51 and 52: "With a growing number of children
Page 53 and 54: Dr. Thurairaja Varatharaja, the top
Page 55 and 56: Without a borehole, water was colle
Page 57 and 58: The New York Times reported on Wedn
Page 59 and 60: The talks mediated by Doha are the
Page 61 and 62: Aid workers and human rights activi
Page 63 and 64: "They have no way out of these swam

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