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India Recalls Ambassador from Pakistan, Troop Buildup on Border
NEW DELHI, Dec 21 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Escalating Indo-Pakistan tensions touched a new peak on Friday as India recalled its ambassador from Islamabad and Pakistan threatened "counter measures" against a build-up of Indian troops along their borders.
Besides recalling its envoy, New Delhi also severed cross-border train and bus services in light of Islamabad's failure to act against activists from Kashmiri resistance groups blamed by India for last week's attack on parliament.
"Since the December 13 attack on parliament, we have seen that no attempt on the part of Pakistan has been made to take action against organizations involved in the terrorist attack," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Nirupama Rao said.
"In view of this complete lack of concern on the part of Pakistan and its continued promotion of cross-border terrorism, the government of India has decided to recall its high commissioner [ambassador] in Islamabad."
Rao also said New Delhi had decided to terminate the Samjhauta Express rail link and Delhi-Lahore bus service between the two countries from January 1.
Kashmiri leaders expressed disappointment on Friday over India's move.
"It is an unfortunate decision," said Shabir Shah, whose Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) wants independence for Kashmir from both India and Pakistan. "It will add to the tensions between India and Pakistan."
Shah, who has spent more than 20 years in Indian jails, urged India to give up its "hardline attitude."
And Yasin Malik, head of the pro-independence Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front said he was "saddened" by India's decision.
In Islamabad, the Pakistan foreign ministry also expressed its "regret" at New Delhi's decisions, adding that it would not withdraw its own envoy from New Delhi in response.
However, Islamabad's reaction to an Indian troop buildup along their borders was sharper.
"The Indian troop movements, which follow provocative and threatening statements by the Indian leadership, would aggravate an already tense situation in the region," a foreign ministry statement said.
"Naturally, Pakistan would be obliged to take all appropriate counter-measures."
New Delhi, for its part said, the move was a "preventive" step.
"Two corps of the Pakistani army were supposed to go back from near the international borders in Rajasthan and Punjab and the de-facto border in Kashmir after some exercises, but they have not," an Indian army spokesman said. "So we can't take any chances."
The military buildup followed a new chill in bilateral relations after the shooting raid on the Indian parliament earlier this week.
India claims to have evidence that the attack was carried out by Pakistan-based Islamic resistance groups at the behest of Pakistani military intelligence.
India had issued a diplomatic "demarche" to Pakistan a week ago, demanding that Islamabad stop the activities of the Kashmiri resistance groups Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad, arrest their leaders and freeze their assets.
Pakistan and both of the organizations have denied any involvement.
The United States rejects the idea of Pakistan being responsible for the attacks, despite India's continuing suggestions that Islamabad supports and trains members of these and other resistance groups.
"[We have] not seen anything that would indicate that the [Pakistani] government was somehow behind these attacks," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters on Friday.
Boucher described the region as an "area of continuing concern," but reiterated the U.S. stance on both countries as important members of the anti-terror coalition.
He stressed Washington's confidence in Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, saying that the military leader has "made clear his commitment" and "proved to be a confident and reliable partner in the fight against terrorism."
The U.S. response to India's actions has been reserved: India's government must make its own decisions regarding what it believes is best for its people, the State Department said.
"We see these as internal matters for the Indian government," Boucher said, adding that the U.S. had made clear the necessity for both countries to avoid an escalation of conflict between them and to work out problems through dialogue.
He would not characterize the new moves on both sides as dangerous or as an escalation. "At this point, they've avoided fighting each other," he said, adding that the U.S. would "continue to remain engaged" in dialogue with both countries.
Friday's measures marked India's first direct retaliation for last week's attack, with analysts terming it as "the very least" India could have done.
K.S. Bajpai, a former Indian envoy to Pakistan, said, "The recalling of our envoy from there is not a very tough message to deliver to Pakistan," he said.
"But if you think the recalling of our envoy is going to affect Pakistan, it's not going to happen. A complete snapping of ties would have been a better message because that would have involved the closing down of their mission here," Bajpai said.
India and Pakistan have fought three full-scale wars since independence from British rule in 1947, two of them over the Himalayan territory in Kashmir, where a number of armed activist groups have waged a decade-long resistance to Indian rule there.
Previous such withdrawals of ambassadors by India occurred prior to conflict breaking out in the 1965 war over Kashmir and the 1971 war over independence for Bangladesh (previously East Pakistan).
India has resisted calls to share evidence gathered since December 13 with Pakistan and has ruled out any meeting between Vajpayee and Musharraf on the sidelines of a South Asia regional conference in Nepal next month.
At the U.S. State Department on Thursday, spokesman Boucher said that the U.S. would be "happy to do whatever we can to help out" in response to suggestions that it might serve as a "conduit for Indian information to the Pakistanis," if India continues to refuse to share evidence with Pakistan.
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