After agonizing, Clinton decides to visit Pakistan

By David Storey

WASHINGTON, March 7 (Reuters) - After agonizing for months on the political and diplomatic implications, President Bill Clinton announced on Tuesday that he would include Pakistan on a trip to India and Bangladesh later this month.

``The president's decision reflects the importance of making efforts to continue dialogue with an important nation of the region despite our serious concern about the lack of an elected government there,'' a White House statement said.

Clinton has been concerned that a Pakistan visit would be seen as endorsing Gen. Pervez Musharraf, whose coup last October was harshly condemned by the United States.

The White House statement said the president would meet with Pakistani leaders to discuss a return to civilian democratic rule, the need to fight terrorism, and measures to avoid a nuclear and missile arms race in the region.

Clinton has offered to mediate between India and Pakistan in their conflict over Kashmir, but a White House official said that was not the purpose of the trip and he saw no mediation role for the United States coming out of the visit.

Pakistan has encouraged the idea of such mediation, but India has turned it town. The Pakistani ambassador in Washington, Maleeha Lodhi, told reporters Clinton would be warmly received.

ENVOY CITES KASHMIR DISPUTE

``The visit could be truly historic if it leads to promotion of peace and security in South Asia and facilitates a just and durable settlement of the Kashmir dispute based on the wishes of the Kashmiri people,'' she said.

Clinton will travel to India and Bangladesh during the week of March 20. The White House did not give a date for the Pakistan visit, but officials said the President would stop over for several hours on March 25 before heading back to Washington and would not stay overnight.

It will be the first visit by an American president to Pakistan since Richard Nixon visited in 1969. President Jimmy Carter visited India in January 1978 without visiting Pakistan.

Planning for the visit, which was postponed in 1998 after India staged a nuclear test and Pakistan quickly followed suit, has been disrupted by the coup that ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Washington imposed new sanctions on Pakistan after the coup and has since pushed Musharraf to take steps to restore democracy and rein in what Washington calls support for ``terrorism'' in the region.

Pakistan has maintained good relations with neighbouring Afghanistan, whose Taleban rulers give haven to Osama bin Laden, a Saudi-born militant accused by Washington of masterminding attacks on U.S. targets around the world.

In recent months, there has even been pressure in some U.S. circles to declare Pakistan a state supporter of terrorism, particularly after the hijacking of an Indian airliner was linked to Pakistan-based Kashmiri militants.

NEED FOR BALANCE

But Clinton is acutely conscious of the need to strike a balance between Pakistan, Washington's long-time ally during the Cold War, and India, with whom the United States has begun to develop closer ties.

He is also eager to encourage the two countries personally to rein in their nuclear ambitions and sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

``The president believes it is crucial that he carry a message of restraint and dialogue to both capitals on this trip,'' an administration official told reporters.

Gen. Anthony Zinni, who oversees U.S. military forces in the region and has repeatedly visited Pakistan, said Washington must deal with the military government or risk isolating the country and pushing it toward extremism.

Sen. Sam Brownback, a Kansas Republican, said a decision to bypass Pakistan would have ``created a perception of imbalance in how the U.S. views the region'' while strengthening the hand of ``the militant, terrorist and anti-Western forces the U.S. seeks to contain within Pakistan.''

Zinni said, ``When the U.S. isolates the professional Pakistani military, we deny ourselves access to the most powerful institution in Pakistani society.''

``This may hamper our nonproliferation and counterterrorism efforts. Furthermore, in the larger strategic sense, Pakistan can play a stabilising role in the region,'' he told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

``General Musharraf -- I know him well,'' he said.

``He would like to bring back democracy -- in his words, true democracy, not just in name only. He has a daunting task,'' said Zinni, head of the U.S. Central Command.