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India keeps Military Option Open, Pakistan to Approach U.N.
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| Congress
activists in Kolkata burning effigy of President Musharraf.
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With
additional reporting by IOL South Asia correspondent
NEW
DELHI, May 20 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – Indian Prime
Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee chaired the second meeting of the
Cabinet Committee on Security Sunday, May 19, and decided to keep the
military option "open", as reports indicated India is
rushing more troops to the borders with Pakistan.
The
latest troop deployment comes in addition to the troops already in a
state of full alert for the last five months in the wake of the
December 13 attack on the Indian Parliament.
India
warned Pakistan Sunday night of "befitting retaliatory
action" if it violated the sanctity of the border, as New Delhi
placed paramilitary forces along the international borders and Line of
Control (LoC) under operational command of the Army and the Coast
Guard under the Navy.
"Indian
Army shall conduct immediate retaliatory fire assaults every time any
such incidents are committed by Pakistan along the LoC and
international border," External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh
told reporters.
This
warning, like the expulsion of the Pakistani high commissioner, is
more of a token measure than a real and substantive step. Just as the
Pakistani envoy has been sidelined in New Delhi since the recall of
the Indian envoy in Islamabad last December, so the "befitting
retaliation" too has no meaning since it is a normal practice on
the international borders as well as on the LoC all year round.
Vajpayee
held an hour-long meeting Sunday morning with opposition leader Sonia
Gandhi. On their agenda were efforts to build a consensus on the
forthcoming presidential elections and on ways to formulate a suitable
response to the Jammu attack which has come as a god-send for the
cornered BJP government as it has suddenly deflected the pressures of
the anti-Muslim pogroms in Gujarat.
An
opposition which has been hounding the government for the last three
months now suddenly "fully supports" the government in its
actions against Pakistan.
Sunday’s
meeting with Sonia Gandhi is the first in a series of meetings likely
to follow between opposition leaders and the Prime Minister as the
government prepares to take some tough decisions during the next few
days. More steps are expected as India builds up its diplomatic
offensive against Islamabad.
Pakistan
said Saturday, May 18, it was disappointed at India's decision to ask
its High Commissioner Ashraf Jahangir Qazi to leave the country, but
maintained that Islamabad would continue to work for de-escalation of
tension and complete normalization of diplomatic ties between the two
countries.
Foreign
office spokesman Aziz Ahmed Khan told Pakistan TV that Islamabad was
disappointed with the Indian decision but had no plans to reciprocate
the Indian move.
Despite
the Indian decision, Khan added, Pakistan would continue to work for
de-escalation and normalization of diplomatic relations with India. He
said Pakistan did not reciprocate when India recalled its high
commissioner Vijay Nambiar since "Pakistan believes in reducing
tension in the region."
Pakistan
also said it was working to sort out differences with India through
dialogue and claimed that the U.S. supported Islamabad's approach.
"We believe that the disputes must be settled across the table
with help of dialogue and this is what we are working on",
Minister for Information Nisar Memon said in an interview with the
BBC.
Citing
"extremely belligerent moves" on the LoC in the wake of
Tuesday's militant attack near Jammu, Pakistan is planning to seek
U.N. Security Council's intervention to bring down heightening
Indo-Pak tension, a media report said in Pakistan Sunday.
"Informed
sources did not rule out the possibility of Pakistan asking the U.N.
to invoke Security Council Resolution 1172 passed in 1998 when
Pakistan and India had tested their nuclear weapons as this resolution
specifically mentions Kashmir as the source of tension between India
and Pakistan," Pakistan daily, Dawn, said.
Quoting
sources, it said Pakistan kept U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan
informed on a daily basis on India's "warlike actions" and
on the ongoing heavy shelling across the LoC.
"Pakistan
has not ruled out the possibility of India declaring an all out war
against it and therefore, has taken all the required steps to defend
its borders and the Line of Control," they said. The paper quoted
"knowledgeable sources" as saying that India might even cut
off all trade links with Islamabad.
"...the
U.S. and the West want Pakistan to do 'more' without specifying what
they meant by 'more' when they talk of Indian accusations like
cross-border infiltration and existence of militancy-related
infrastructure," they said.
They
added that Pakistan has told its "friends" clearly that it
is next to impossible to stop the infiltration of Kashmiris across the
LoC, as most of them are members of divided families living on both
sides of the LoC.
They
said the visit of Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs
Christina Rocca, meant to ease Indo-Pak tension, fell victim to the
Jammu killings, adding that the timing of the Jammu incident was just
right for the Indian government as it came handy to divert the
attention of the world community from the Gujarat communal riots.
Pakistan,
they said, has told its "friends" that it did not stand to
gain anything by encouraging such militant activities inside Jammu and
Kashmir.
The
U.S. once again Sunday asked India and Pakistan to hold talks.
"The United States has repeatedly stated our strong concern about
the potential for conflict between India and Pakistan. We continue our
longstanding effort to lower tension between India and Pakistan and
encourage them to engage in dialogue," state department
spokeswoman Jo-Anne Prokopowicz said, reading out a prepared
statement.
Britain, too, made a strong diplomatic representation to India,
warning against any "Israel-type" strikes against Pakistan,
according to well-placed official sources. The representation points
out that aggressive Israeli military action in Palestine has not
prevented attacks from being carried out within Israel.
The representation also points out that opposing forces and the
terrain would not permit India to win a fourth war easily, should it
take place. India has previously fought three wars with Pakistan,
including two over Kashmir.
The representation contains a strong warning that a fourth war could
lead to a nuclear attack in which India would have far more to lose,
according to these sources.
Last week, a British newspaper leaked the report of a study in the
U.S. that Pakistan had been ready to use nuclear weapons against India
in 1999. The official warnings and the unofficial leaks are a part of
a "strong diplomatic campaign" that the U.S. and Britain are
now pursuing, the sources said.
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| Exodus
from border areas in Kashmir
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The
moves are also being coordinated with the European Union by Chris
Patten, the European Union commissioner for international relations.
Patten, the last governor of Hong Kong, has been taking the lead in
attempts to prepare for a bigger international role in resolving
disputes between India and Pakistan, principally in Jammu and Kashmir.
The British Foreign Office reports indicate a high degree of
preparedness in Pakistan to counter an Indian attack, the sources
said.
For the third day, there was an all-round exchange of fire along the
international borders as well as the LoC. India claimed ten Pakistani
soldiers were killed and 15 Pakistani bunkers were destroyed in
retaliatory firing and shelling by Indian troops along the LoC in
Poonch and Rajouri areas of Jammu and Kashmir, a defense spokesman
said in New Delhi.
Pakistani
troops used a combination of small arms firing and mortar shelling in
Noushera, Rajouri and Poonch sectors since Friday, May 17, he said.
Reports
from Srinagar said four women and two Border Security Force personnel
were among nine injured due to shelling on Forwa posts and villages in
Uri sector of Baramulla on Saturday. Pakistani troops, who used
artillery and mortar fire, targeted the Indian side in Uri and were
continuing it till last reports came in Sunday.
The
present spate of cross-border firing in Kashmir gained momentum after
Tuesday's attack on a passenger bus and Army base in Jammu which left
35 people dead. According to government officials, until late Saturday
about 25,000 people had fled various border villages in the Jammu
district and are being housed in schools and government buildings in
Kathua in the south.
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