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Politics : Idea Of The Day -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Nick who wrote (41347)	10/31/2001 11:19:11 AM
From: 2MAR$	Respond to of 50167

India Troop Chief In Kashmir: War Remains Option ( Pakistan is on notice, curb your dogs ) JAMMU, India (AP)--The commander of Indian troops in disputed Kashmir warned Wednesday that if pushed, New Delhi could choose military action against Pakistan's army and Islamic guerrillas. In the most aggressive comments in years by a military commander, Lt. Gen. R.K. Nanavatty said India "must remain prepared to exercise the military action," and that the capture of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir was "achievable." Tensions have increased sharply since an Oct. 1 car bombing and gunfight killed 40 people at the state Legislature in Jammu-Kashmir, the Indian-ruled part of Kashmir. An Islamic group that operates in Pakistan claimed responsibility, then denied it. India accuses Muslim Pakistan of supporting Islamic separatists fighting a 12-year insurgency in Jammu-Kashmir, India's only Muslim-majority state. Pakistan denies the charge. India is mainly Hindu. "The nuclearization of the subcontinent might have altered the situation, but despite that, the space exists for a limited conventional operation," Nanavatty said. India's military had refrained from such references to war even during the 1999 frontier fighting with Pakistan that killed hundreds of soldiers. Asked about the threat that India is in a position to seize Pakistan's northern areas and its part of Kashmir, Gen. Rashid Quereshi, spokesman of Pakistan's military government, said it wasn't worthy of comment. "They are totally mistaken," he said. He also said Pakistan "has tried unilaterally to defuse the situation and prevent friction," saying Pakistan withdrew forces from the border in Kashmir. "If India wants to escalate tensions, Pakistan would continue to exercise restraint and take bare minimum measures," Quereshi said. Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee wrote President Bush after the Oct. 1 attack, saying Pakistan needed to understand that India's patience was limited. The U.S. has urged both countries to avoid escalating tensions in Kashmir. Nanavatty, who commands the more than half million soldiers in Jammu-Kashmir, was speaking at a seminar in its winter capital, Jammu. A spokesman for India's Defense Ministry, P.K. Bandopadhyay, called the general's assessment "theoretically correct." On Wednesday, Vajpayee reiterated India's position that Kashmir will always remain a part of India, which controls two-thirds of the region. Pakistan controls the rest. "Let there be no illusion...India is ready to face any kind of challenge to its unity," he told a gathering at a Hindu temple dedication in Ahmadabad in Gujarat state, which borders Pakistan. Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Aziz Ahmed Khan said Wednesday that Kashmir isn't part of India. "The entire world and the United Nations recognize Kashmir as disputed territory," he said. (END) DOW JONES NEWS 10-31-01 11:13 AM * end of story *