New Delhi: National Security Advisor MK Narayanan has said that US President Barack Obama was barking up the wrong tree by attempting to link Afghanistan and Kashmir.
In an interview to CNN-IBN's Karan Thapar, Narayanan also said that there is tremendous and genuine warmth between Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
But he added that it was difficult to do business with President Zardari because the centre of power in Pakistan lay with the Pakistani Army.Karan Thapar: As you know, there is nervousness in many quarters in Delhi that President Obama tends to link the fight against Taliban and al-Qaeda which is his declared top priority, with a solution to Kashmir. MK Narayanan: References made by President Obama which seem to suggest that there is a link between settlement of the western war, on Pakistan's western border and the Kashmir issue, certainly had caused concern. But I do think we can make President Obama understand, if he does nurse any such view, that he's barking up the wrong tree. I think Kashmir today has become one of the quieter and safer place today, in this part of the world.
"I think there's tremendous warmth in the relationship between the Prime Minister and President Zardari... a little less so between (Pakistani) Prime Minister Gilani and the Prime Minister. But I think the warmth is genuine, it is not a put on show but I think everybody recognises that that the power lies elsewhere, not necessarily with the (Pakistani) President and the (Pakistani) Prime Minister. It's nothing that we can do anything about, but the fact is that it is difficult therefore to do business," Narayanan said.
Comments
0 comment