L.K. Advani (Home Minister) - Kargil was a turning point in Indo-US ties. The year 1999 has turned out to be a watershed in Indo-US relations.
A. B. Vajpayee (Prime Minister) - I am fully satisfied. The USA concurs with India's view (on Clinton Sharif joint Statement).
Natwar Singh (Former Diplomat) - "Personal interest" amounts to third party intervention (on Clinton-Sharif statement).
Shankar Bajpai (Former Ambassador) - Even those who recognise that Pakistan engineered the crisis also believe that India needs to make concession on Kashmir. In fact, we now have a more intractable diplomatic problem than we did before Kargil erupted. The Sharif-Clinton statement seems favourable to us. But it also crystallised the Kashmir dilemma ... The Washington agreement ... puts on us the burden of convincing the world, including Pakistan, that yes, we'll discuss Kashmir.
Arvind N. Das (Journalist) - Internationalisation of Kashmir was inevitable under this (BJP led) regime, which has accepted a unipolar world (and) accepted the US as a global policeman.
T.N. Kaul (Former Diplomat) - ... Not much help can be expected from US except on its terms, some of which are humiliating and some smack of threats of domination and interference.
Parkash Karat (Member, CPM Politbureau) - The US had its own agenda for Kashmir with the Clinton administration's action in Balkans making it clear that it was ready to support the demand for national self determination by an ethnic group, provided it served its interests.
Muchkund Dubey (Former Foreign Secretary) - The US wants the LoC to be scrupulously respected in order to ensure that its violation does not result in a war between India and Pakistan ...There is absolutely no hint in their emphasis on the sanctity of the LoC of a change in their position on Kashmir, which is to regard it as a dispute and to insist that the wishes of the Kashmiri people must be taken into account in finding a solution to it.
Mohit Sen - The US administration has chosen its words carefully when it says that it has no plans at present to intervene directly in the conflict ... It can mean that as of now there would no direct intervention ... It can also mean that there would be "indirect intervention which can later climax to direct intervention.
Kargil Aftermath -- American Perceptions
James Foley (U.S. State Deptt. Spokesman) - Our interest is encouraging an expeditious and intensification of efforts by India and Pakistan to resolve their outstanding differences, again including Kashmir.
Stephen Cohen (US Expert on Kashmir) - US had taken up the South Asian conflict a little late in the game. We .were obsessed with getting India to sign the CTBT instead of focussing on Kashmir, we let the deeper issues slide.
Michael Krepon (President, Henry L. Stimson Centre) - Once the Kargil chapter is over, the world will expect that India and Pakistan to resume talks. It is clear to all that India has to take the initiative. There is no quid pro quo but an expectation that India step up to the plate.
Karl Inderfurth (US Asstt. Secretary of State) - Tensions remain high over Kashmir. Military action, including shelling, continues along the LoC as do acts of terrorism, As long as tensions remain high and people are dying, the situation can always reverse itself.
Shirin Tahir-Khell (Former US Ambassador to UN) - Washington's focus on the current crisis must not be followed by a period of inactivity until the next crisis looms ... US need a road map of a multi-faceted approach to its relations with South Asia.
Teresita Schaffer (Former US Ambassador) - What would help the leaders of India and especially Pakistan to accept some of the bitter pills such a settlement (Kashmir) would inevitably involve? Are there ways that the international community could make this process, or these far-reaching decisions easier.
Frank Wisner (Former US Ambassador to India) - US must reconcile to the fact that rolling back India's and Pakistan's nuclear arsenals is no longer on the cards, US must develop security dialogue with India, exchanging estimates and intelligence. We can engage all. But we need India, in the equation. Without her, the equation is not whole. And we need Pakistan to insure the stability of South Asian and its environs.
Asian Wall Street Journal -Where are the Kashmiris? They deserve to be heard since their uniqueness is part of the problem and they must be part of the solution ... Real autonomy within India seems like the most practical solution?
The Financial Times - India needs to make some concession on Kashmir issue to avoid 'a hundred Kargils'
(Source: The Kashmir Sentinel, 1-30 September, 1999)
