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Politics : America Under Siege: The End of Innocence -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: ChinuSFO who wrote (16022)	6/2/2002 9:01:19 PM
From: Richnorth	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 27666

India dashes hopes of Kashmir talks Reports say India will launch an attack if international pressure fails to prevent infiltration by militants within two weeks straitstimes.asia1.com.sg By Nirmal Ghosh INDIA CORRESPONDENT NEW DELHI - The leaders of India and Pakistan yesterday left for a regional summit in Kazakhstan which offers them the best opportunity to defuse ongoing tensions - but New Delhi said direct talks were conditional upon improvements in the situation in Kashmir. Indian officials said Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee would not meet Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and that there were no plans for talks at any level. But in a departure statement yesterday, the Indian leader appeared to leave the door slightly ajar, saying: 'During the last few days, we have observed the statements being made by General Musharraf and, during this time, I have also spoken to (United States) President Bush and (British) Prime Minister Blair. 'If there is solid proof of Gen Musharraf's assurances being implemented on the ground, then we will examine the situation seriously and take appropriate steps.' The summit is widely seen as a significant opportunity, and by some quarters as a last chance to reach a compromise and step back decisively from the brink of war. Russian President Vladimir Putin, attending the summit in Almaty, as is Chinese President Jiang Zemin, is willing to be a go-between - the first time he has offered to intervene directly and personally in the stand-off. The summit, starting today, is the first meeting of the 16-nation Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia. Besides India, Russia, China and Pakistan, members include Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, Palestine, Egypt, Turkey and central Asian states. The US and Japan are among countries that enjoy observer status. Gen Musharraf left for the summit yesterday without making any comment. But he had downplayed the threat of nuclear war, telling CNN a day earlier that he did not think 'either side is that irresponsible to go to that limit'. Reports here say India will wait two weeks to see if diplomatic pressure can work before launching a 10-day assault in Kashmir across the Line of Control (LOC) dividing the two countries. According to reports in India Today and the Christian Science Monitor, New Delhi had told Washington and London secretly that it would see if international pressure halted infiltration of Islamic militants across the LOC. If that did not happen, India would launch a strike to capture strategic territory and disable infrastructure used by the militants. The premise would be a quick, 10-day action similar to Pakistan's operation in Kargil in 1999, and would be an infantry-led assault with heavy support from the air force. Other reports yesterday quoted Indian army sources assaying radio messages from Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) operatives to militants inside Indian Kashmir had been intercepted. The messages apparently told the militants to lie low for a while. This follows reports that Gen Musharraf has issued orders to choke off cross-border infiltration.