India Signals It Might Attack Pakistan

May 20, 2002
From wire reports

Army clashes and attacks by extremists killed at least 15 people in the disputed region of Kashmir over the weekend as India signaled it might step up military action against archrival Pakistan.

The latest violence included gunfire and mortar exchanges between Indian and Pakistani forces and marked the most intense cross-border firing this year. It came after India ordered on Saturday the expulsion of Pakistan's ambassador in retaliation for an attack Tuesday by Islamic militants at an Indian military base in Kashmir. Thirty-four people were killed in that attack.

Over the weekend, Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee met with opposition leaders amid growing political support for a military strike against Pakistan.

On Saturday, New Delhi ordered Pakistani Ambassador Ashraf Jehangir Qazi to leave and gave him a week to head home. Qazi said his expulsion would only worsen tensions between the two nations.

India says Pakistan has provided support and sanctuary for Islamic guerrillas staging attacks in Indian Kashmir. The battle for control of the divided Himalayan region has sparked two wars between India and Pakistan since 1947. Both nations are now nuclear powers.

Pakistan supports Kashmiri independence but denies that it sponsors militant separatists in Kashmir, which is the only Muslim-majority state in predominantly Hindu India. Pakistan says it has cracked down on Kashmiri guerrilla groups since joining the U.S. war on terrorism.

The latest crisis stems from a December terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament in New Delhi, after which the two countries moved a combined 1 million troops to the border. Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf vowed in January to crack down on terrorist groups operating in Kashmir.

More than 30,000 people have been killed in the disputed region since separatist violence erupted in 1989.

The latest tensions:
* Islamic guerrillas fired into an Indian paramilitary camp in Kashmir on Sunday. Four soldiers were killed and 12 wounded. One of the attackers also was killed.

Indian Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh called the incident a "terrorist attack" and vowed retaliation.

"We want to make it clear that the Indian army will retaliate immediately every time there is any such assault committed by Pakistan," he said.
* Military officials in both countries said small-arms and mortar fire across the border has forced thousands of villagers to flee their homes. Three Indian civilians were killed Saturday, India said. In Islamabad, officials said Indian shelling has killed seven Pakistanis and wounded 41 since Saturday.
* India also announced on Sunday a streamlining of its military operations. The move is widely viewed as a preparation for a possible war.

Vajpayee's Cabinet committee on security announced it would place paramilitary forces guarding the border under the command of the army and the coast guard under command of the navy.

The possibility of an all-out conflict between the two nuclear neighbors is viewed with increasing alarm in Washington. Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca visited the region last week, and U.S. officials are considering another mission by Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.

Secretary of State Colin Powell is watching the situation closely, officials said.

"We are concerned about the situation there," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said. "The United States has been working all along with both of these nations to try to see if we couldn't contribute in some way to an easing of tensions."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2002/05/20/india-pakistan.htm