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Tensions Continue to Build Between India, Pakistan
India's foreign minister accused Pakistan on Sunday of trying to deflect attention from the role of its citizens in last month's terror attack in Mumbai by leaking word of a hoax phone call to the Pakistani president's office that forced its air force to go on high alert. The episode underscored the high level of tension that remains between the two nuclear-armed nations nearly two weeks after the attack, as India continues to charge that a Pakistani terror group with past ties to the government was responsible and Pakistan insists that it was not involved. During the call, which came on Nov. 28 as the attack was still unfolding, the caller allegedly identified himself as Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee and threatened that India would mount military action unless Pakistan took action against the attackers. Pakistani information minister Sherry Rehman said in a statement that the call came from "a verified official phone number of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs." The call prompted President Asif Ali Zardari to put the air force on high alert. News of the call was first reported in the Pakistani newspaper Dawn over the weekend, and was subsequently picked up by other Pakistani media. But on Sunday, Mukherjee released a statement saying he had first learned of the call from "third countries," and that the call was a hoax. "We immediately clarified to those friends, and we also made it clear to the Pakistan authorities, that I had made no such telephone call," Mukherjee said. He added that it is "worrying that a neighboring state might even consider acting on the basis of such a hoax call, try to give it credibility with other states, and confuse the public by releasing the story in part." Ten gunmen attacked Mumbai on Nov. 26, killing 174 people and wounding 230 in strikes on luxury hotels, a Jewish prayer center a restaurant and a train station. Indian officials have said that the gunmen were of Pakistani origin, that they came by boat from Karachi and that they belonged to the Pakistan-based outlawed militant group Lashkar-i-Taiba. Members of the group were earlier blamed for the 2001 attack on the Indian parliament that brought the two longtime foes to the brink of a fourth war. Pakistan has demanded evidence of the Pakistani link, but has also promised to assist New Delhi in the investigation. The attacks have given rise to a new war of words between the two neighbors, straining an ongoing peace process. The controversy over the hoax call has led to questions over how the prank caller managed to bypass the official protocol that governs telephone calls between world leaders and top diplomats. Posted by: Fred 2008-12-08 |
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