Pakistan voices nuclear war fear over Kashmir
By Rahul Bedi in New Delhi
INDIA and Pakistan exchanged artillery fire across the disputed Kashmir
border for the fourth consecutive day yesterday, bringing fatalities so
far to about 80.
Chakothi villagers flee from shelling near the ceasefire line between
the Indian and Pakistan armies in Kashmir
Five people, including one soldier and two girls, died yesterday in
Pakistani attacks in the Uri, Kamalkote, Tangdhar, Bikhama and Baramulla
sectors along the line of control, police in Srinagar said. The latest
victims bring Indian fatalities to 30 since hostilities erupted on
Thursday.
Pakistan's foreign minister, Gohar Ayub Khan, warned of a nuclear war
over Kashmir. Kashmir was a "flashpoint" that could erupt at any time
and the possibility of a nuclear conflict could not be ruled out.
Reports from Islamabad, Pakistan's capital, said that 48 people had been
killed, three of them yesterday, in their portion of Kashmir. Hundreds
of villagers who fled their border homes in Indian-administered Kashmir
said the firing was like a "full-scale engagement" similar to the
India-Pakistan wars in 1965 and 1971.
Atal Behari Vajpayee, India's prime minister, and Nawaz Sharif, his
Pakistani counterpart, held talks in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo last
week, the first since the two sides conducted nuclear tests. But the
talks stalled on the issue of Kashmir, over which the two countries have
fought two of their three wars since independence in 1947.
Mr Sharif said Kashmir was the "core issue" between the neighbours and
until that was resolved, no progress on issues such as maritime
boundaries, easing of visa restrictions and controlling drug smuggling
was possible. In Colombo, Pakistan insisted on outside mediation, which
India opposes. The talks finally broke up with Islamabad accusing Delhi
of intransigence and unwillingness to resolve the dispute, an allegation
India said was "neurotic" and out of touch with reality.
Meanwhile, Richard Celeste, the American ambassador to India, said the
two neighbours were "closer to war" than the Soviet Union and US ever
were during the Cold War.
telegraph.co.uk |
