Introduction: De-escalation Possible Only After Pakistan Ends Terrorism, Says George
India today ruled out pulling out its troops from the border unless Pakistan followed up on its stated intent of putting an end to cross-border terrorism by taking concrete steps on the ground.
“The promises made by the Pakistani President have to be translated into action. We have had his word. Now we wait for the deed,” Mr Fernandes said, while addressing a press conference on the eve of his US visit. He indicated that the broad benchmarks that would make de-escalation of troops possible would be an end to the export of terrorism, crackdown on jehadis and action on the list of 20 terrorists and criminals supplied by New Delhi to Islamabad.
The apparently unyielding stand on the part of New Delhi conveys an unambiguous message to General Musharraf that the onus of reducing tensions in the region con tinues to rest on his shoulders. And unless he followed up his words with action and presents proof to the effect, India would persist with the mobilisation of troops along the LoC as well as the international border.
“The entire nation is fed up with terrorism and looks for a permanent solution to this problem,” he said, adding, “The mobilization of the Indian forces is complete and any effort at de-escalation can come only, repeat only, if and when the cross-border terrorism comes to a stop.” The defence minister, however, refused to put a time frame by when India wanted General Musharraf to act. 'I'm sure he is aware that he has to do it fast, particularly because troops from both sides are on the frontlines,' he said.
Mr Fernandes suggested that one of the ways by which Pakistan could show this was by a drastic reduction in the engagement of troops along the LoC, which he indicated was used as a cover to allow infiltration. Till yesterday, there had been no such signs as Pakistani soldiers had continued firing across the LoC and shelling on Kargil and surrounding areas of Dras and Mushkoh valley, he said.
The defence minister, however, sought to emphasise that India was still concentrating on diplomatic efforts even as it kept the threat of hostilities dangling. “We are keen to resolve issues peacefully but if that does not work we may be left with no option” he said. In making this assertion, there appeared to be a clear suggestion that New Delhi obviously did not think that the stem position was an unreasonable one. In fact, coming just before the visit of US secretary of state Colin Powell, the surmise is that the, it may have been consistent with the assessment of the US administration.
Mr Fernandes also disagreed with the perception that China's proximity to Pakistan could put India at a disadvantage. While admitting that China had been a close ally of Pakistan and had supplied it with military hardware, he said India had improved its relations with Beijing considerably. 'We are on the threshold of giving new impetus to these relations during the ongoing visit of Chinese Prime Minister Zhu Rongji,' he said adding that since the last four years, the Sino-Indian border had remained incident-free.
In his opening statement, Mr Fernandes
made it clear that the build-up was effected by Pakistan. He asserted that
indo-Pak relations would figure prominently in his US visit this week.