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Strategies & Market Trends : India Coffee House -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mohan Marette who wrote (4916)	7/4/1999 8:24:00 PM
From: Mohan Marette	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 12475

PM declines Clinton's invitation New Delhi, July 4 (HT Correspondent) PRIME MINISTER Atal Behari Vajpayee has declined an invitation from President Bill Clinton to visit the US “at an early date,” saying it would not be possible for him to undertake such a visit “at this stage.” The invitation for the visit, apparently to discuss the Kargil crisis, was extended by Mr Clinton during a telephonic talk last night. And the invitation came on the eve of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's own visit to Washington. During the 10-minute conversation, Mr Clinton is said to have briefed Mr Vajpayee about his talk with Mr Sharif earlier and the latter's visit to Washington. A spokesman of the External Affairs Ministry, briefing newspersons here today, said that Mr Vajpayee informed Mr Clinton that it would not be possible for him “to accept his kind invitation for the present.” It's not convenient at this stage, the Prime Minister reportedly told him. The spokesman, responding to queries, said the US President's invitation was “bilateral” in nature and that it had “no relation whatsoever to Mr Nawaz Sharif's visit to Washington.” The spokesman stonewalled questions on whether Mr Clinton had given indication of any Pakistani proposal to withdraw its troops and mercenaries. “There is nothing more at the moment. Details of such conversations are privileged information,” he said. Commenting on Pakistani Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz's latest “call for a dialogue,” the spokesman said that Islamabad was resorting to a “blatant attempt to obscure, conceal and divert attention” from its brazen aggression. In the process, it was attempting to buy time. As the spokesman put it, it was “another instance of sophistry in keeping with Pakistan's long-standing deception and propaganda.” In all this, Islamabad was making a vain bid to project itself as “reasonable and peace-loving.” What is required today is not dialogue, but a complete withdrawal of the Pakistani aggression and restoration of status quo ante on the Line of Control (LoC), he said. But, there was not the slightest sign that Islamabad was taking any steps towards that end, the spokesman stated. While the Indian forces were making steady progress in evicting the armed intruders, Pakistan was continuing with its full-fledged military operation, involving its own Army regulars, terrorists and mercenaries. hindustantimes.com

To: Mohan Marette who wrote (4916)	7/4/1999 8:34:00 PM
From: Mohan Marette	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12475

Ex-ISI chief warns of civil war in Pakistan.(Now that there is a brilliant idea) Islamabad, July 4 (Agencies) A FORMER chief of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), in a hard-hitting comment, has warned the Nawaz Sharif Government of a “civil war” if it forced the Mujahideen to withdraw from Kargil-Drass sector under international pressure. If the Mujahideen (Islamic warriors)(mohan:Yeah right!) were forced to withdraw from Kargil-Drass sector, “they would head straight to Islamabad instead of Srinagar and it would lead to a civil war in the country,” Urdu daily Din here quoted former director general of ISI Gen (Retd) Hamid Gul as saying. Gul expressed apprehensions that the Sharif Government was going to make some compromise on the Kargil issue under American pressure. The former ISI Chief said Musharraf should resign from his post if he is forced to withdraw the mujahideen from the Indian side of the LoC, saying, “I am sure the nation will not forgive those who will back-stab the mujahideen.” INTRUSION BEGAN LAST NOV: Meanwhile, according to a report in the Time magazine, Pakistani military units experienced in mountain warfare began occupying high ridges on the Indian side of the Line of Control as far back as November last year. The latest issue of the magazine which will hit the stands tomorrow reveals that in November the first batch of Pakistani troops from the Northern Light Infantry regiment and Khyber Rifles — military units experienced in mountain warfare — crept over the 3,500-metre high passes along the LoC to occupy the high ridges held in the summer by the Indian Army. It said though Islamabad insists that the soldiers on the Indian ridges are mujahideen, it was an alibi Pakistan used for its military advance. The intruding Pakistani soldiers had discarded their uniforms for traditional ‘shalwar kameez', grew beards and wore traditional white religious skull caps. It quoted a Pakistani army officer as saying that “none of us wants war with India....It is very damaging for Pakistan economically, and we feel it will be difficult to sustain”. According to the magazine, a phone-booth attendant Yawar Shah in Skardu in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir said Pakistani armymen weep when they call home to bid good-bye to their families as not many of them expect to come back from the mountains alive. A Pakistani soldier who spent 77 days on Indian territory fighting at elevations up to 5,400 metres was quoted by the magazine as having said he was ordered to cross the LoC in February this year. “My commanding officer would not allow me to take my AK-47 rifle. I was against going to an Indian hill without a weapon, but I saw that everybody who was being sent across the LoC was going there empty-handed. We were told it was for the sake of secrecy,” he said. The soldier said the skirmishes with the Indians started in May. He said that Pakistanis have suffered a lot of casualties, much more than what officials in Pakistan were willing to admit. hindustantimes.com

To: Mohan Marette who wrote (4916)	7/5/1999 4:19:00 PM
From: sea_biscuit	Respond to of 12475

U.S.: Pakistan Will Withdraw Forces-NY Times (Oh geeeez I wonder why???) You wonder why? Well, Sharif will merely state that Pakistan will withdraw in order to gain diplomatic leverage. Then the Mujahedin militants refuse to comply with his views, and he will turn around and tell the world that, well, that is what he has been saying all along -- that Pakistan has no control over the militants. The situation doesn't change one bit and yet, Pakistan comes out looking like they did everything to settle the matter.