voa标准英语2008-Efforts Underway to Defuse Rising Indo-Pakistani

A trio of U.S. senators is in South Asia, one of several sets of high-level foreign visitors trying to defuse rising tension between India and Pakistan following the Mumbai terror attacks. Meanwhile, India is renewing demands Pakistan hand over wanted fugitives¹. VOA Correspondent Steve Herman reports from New Delhi.
　

Senator Joseph Lieberman

Three senior U.S. senators who met with top Indian-government officials say emotions are running high following the Mumbai terror attack.

Senator Joseph Lieberman told reporters the feelings expressed during their meeting Tuesday with prime minister Manmohan Singh and external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee are understandable.

"They are clearly both full of pain and anger as I am sure most of the people of India are. And, as I can tell you, most of the people of America are," Lieberman said.

The U.S. lawmakers are among those visiting the region to offer condolences and perhaps engage in some shuttle diplomacy². The senators are to meet top Pakistani government and military leaders in Islamabad later in the week.

Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa is also in the Indian capital. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice arrives Wednesday. Russian president Dmitri Medvedev is due Thursday.

Senator John McCain says Mumbai's attackers meant to put India and Pakistan at each others' throats again.
　

Sen. John McCain at a New Delhi news conference, Tuesday, 02 Dec. 2008

"One of the objects of the terrorist attack and this act of outrage³ is to try to provoke confrontation⁴ between Pakistan and India," McCain said. "And I know that this [Indian] government is committed to not letting that happen."

But the senators say New Delhi, which is blaming "elements" in Pakistan for the attack, needs answers from Islamabad.

Senator Lindsey Graham says he feels there is now a "real strong resolve" among India's leaders to make needed changes to bolster⁵ the country's internal security.

India and Pakistan, which both have nuclear weapons, now face their worst state of relations in six years. The two have gone to war against each other three times since their independence in 1947.

Foreign minister Mukherjee acknowledges the India-Pakistan peace process is jeopardized⁶. He has handed Pakistan's top envoy⁷ here a formal diplomatic note - known as a demarche - with the names of about 20 individuals India wants Pakistan to extradite.
　

Pakistan's foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi speaks in New Delhi as India's external minister Pranab Mukherjee listens at news conference (27 Nov. 2008 file photo)

"The demarche asks the arrest and hand-over of those persons who are settled in Pakistan and who are fugitives of Indian law," Mukherjee said.

Those on the list include the infamous⁸ Mumbai crime kingpin, Dawood Ibrahim, and Maulana Masood Azhar - a Pakistani Muslim cleric who, in 1999, was freed from an Indian prison, in exchange for passengers on a hijacked⁹ Indian airliner¹⁰.

Ibrahim is considered India's most wanted man. His organization is suspected of involvement in a 1993 bombing in Mumbai that left 250 people dead. Indian media reports say there is also official suspicion some of his underlings may have provided support to the terrorists who struck last week.

Azhar leads the group Jaish-e-Mohammad, which is believed to support Muslim separatists in the part of disputed Kashmir which is under Indian control.

India initially¹¹ gave Pakistani officials such a list six years ago and says it never received an adequate response.

Top Pakistani government officials promise cooperation with India to determine responsibility for the attack on Mumbai. But Islamabad rejects any allegations of complicity, blaming "non-state actors", which Pakistan says it is also battling and says India must provide specific information of those it accuses of taking part.

1 fugitives   

n.亡命者，逃命者( fugitive的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Three fugitives from the prison are still at large. 三名逃犯仍然未被抓获。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Members of the provisional government were prisoners or fugitives. 临时政府的成员或被捕或逃亡。 来自演讲部分

2 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

3 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

4 confrontation   

n.对抗，对峙，冲突

参考例句：

• We can't risk another confrontation with the union.我们不能冒再次同工会对抗的危险。
• After years of confrontation,they finally have achieved a modus vivendi.在对抗很长时间后，他们最后达成安宁生存的非正式协议。

5 bolster   

n.枕垫；v.支持，鼓励

参考例句：

• The high interest rates helped to bolster up the economy.高利率使经济更稳健。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

6 jeopardized   

危及，损害( jeopardize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The soldier jeopardized his life to save his comrade. 这个士兵冒生命的危险救他的同志。
• The occasional failed project or neglected opportunity does not jeopardized overall progress. 偶然失败的项目或失误的机会并没有影响总的进展。

7 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

8 infamous   

adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的

参考例句：

• He was infamous for his anti-feminist attitudes.他因反对女性主义而声名狼藉。
• I was shocked by her infamous behaviour.她的无耻行径令我震惊。

9 hijacked   

劫持( hijack的过去式和过去分词 )； 绑架； 拦路抢劫； 操纵（会议等，以推销自己的意图）

参考例句：

• The plane was hijacked by two armed men on a flight from London to Rome. 飞机在从伦敦飞往罗马途中遭到两名持械男子劫持。
• The plane was hijacked soon after it took off. 那架飞机起飞后不久被劫持了。

10 airliner   

n.客机，班机

参考例句：

• The pilot landed the airliner safely.驾驶员使客机安全着陆。
• The passengers were shepherded across the tarmac to the airliner.旅客们被引导走过跑道去上飞机。

11 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。