2 June 1999

Reuters News

English

(c) 1999 Reuters Limited

NEW DELHI, June 1 (Reuters) – India’s External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh said on Tuesday there would be “no relenting” on air and ground operations in Kashmir, and accused Pakistan’s military of connivance with “armed intruders”.

“There will be no relenting on any ground operations or air operations until status quo ante is restored,” Singh told Reuters In an interview, “I think what has been committed against India is an armed intrusion and armed aggression.”

Singh said he had received telephone calls from both U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Britain’s Foreign Secretary Robin Cook after India launched air strikes last Wednesday against guerrillas dug into high ridges on its side of a ceasefire line dividing Kashmir.

“What was striking and noteworthy is that both of them categorically said this issue must be settled bilaterally, and added that they have communicated that to Pakistan in unambiguous terms. They did advise restraint,” Singh said.

Singh also said the guerrillas’ activities would not have been possible without Pakistan’s help.

“I do believe that such an intrusion could neither have been planned, nor executed, nor supported in the fashion in which it has been supported without the active connivance and support of the Pakistani armed forces.”

Asked about fears in India’s financial markets that the conflict in Kashmir might escalate into full-scale war between the nuclear-armed neighbours, Singh said:

“Let me rest all doubts. There shall be no escalation as far as India is concerned. Secondly this is a thriving economy. And it is in a tiny segment of India … that this trouble is taking place. We have the resilience to absorb such problems and cause no consequence to the Indian economy, certainly not to the dynamism of the Indian markets. I am very bullish.”

Singh was also at pains to discount the effect of the fighting on India’s Jammu and Kashmir state.

“Tourism continues to flourish, people continue to lead normal lives. Only in a tiny segment is this armed intrusion taking place. We have contained that armed intrusion militarily. They are going to be driven back.”

He said he could not predict how the latest Kashmir flare-up would affect attempts by New Delhi and Islamabad to resolve a host of differences through a series of talks.

“Dialogue is a two-way process. I cannot conduct a monologue and call it a dialogue. And it really depends on how my friend from Pakistan (Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz) will approach it. We have a long-term commitment (to peace),” he said.

Singh said he did not know why Pakistan had provoked a crisis just months after Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and his Pakistan counterpart Nawaz Sharif had agreed in Lahore to resolve disputes in an amicable manner.

“It is one of the aspects that I do wish to enquire of my counterpart from Pakistan. I am deeply disappointed and it is something that I do wish to enquire, why have you chosen to enter upon this misadventure at this time .”

(c) Reuters Limited 1999.