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| India-Pakistan |
| India should pull out troops from J&K: Iâll fight terrorists instead, says Musharraf |
| 2006-01-08 |
| President Pervez Musharraf has offered to join Indiaâs âfight against terrorismâ in Jammu and Kashmir if New Delhi agrees to pull out troops from Srinagar, Kupwara and Baramulla, the Press Trust of India reported. Pulling COIN troops from the terrorist infested areas and entry points along the LOC? In his chat to Karan Thapar for CNN/IBN TV news channel, President Musharraf said he was disappointed at the lack of progress in the peace process and complained that there was ânot muchâ response from India to the ideas proposed by him for the resolution of the Kashmir issue. He declined that some of his top commanders do not back his peace initiatives with India, saying he would âthrow outâ any corps commander if he declined to obey his orders or opposed them. âLet me tell you, this is not a banana republic army. It is an army that fought wars. It is an extremely disciplined army. It is totally loyal and committed to me. I know that,â he said in the interview to be telecast tomorrow. The president said he would invite Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to watch one of the India-Pakistan cricket matches in order to take the peace process between the two countries forward. âLet me say I would like to invite him to Pakistan to watch any part of the series,â Musharraf said. He said the Indian prime minister was due to visit Pakistan. âHe is supposed to visit us. He said so in New York (last year when they met in September at the UN) and he has not come yet,â he told Thapar. Musharraf added any such visit by Singh should be productive and take the peace process forward. âI do not mind inviting him at all. I want the peace process to move forward. If he comes here and we do nothing about the peace process, I am afraid we are wasting our time.â Musharrafâs comments follow remarks by Pakistan Foreign Office Spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam that Pakistan would invite Singh if he wished to watch one of the matches. âOn its part Islamabad would welcome a visit by Singh. If the prime minister wishes to come, an invitation will be extended,â she said two days ago. online |
| Posted by:john |
| #1 The Pak newspaper The Nation has an editorial on this Incomprehensible! While one can understand the Presidentâs proposal that India withdraw its armed forces from Srinagar, Kupwara and Baramulla, one wonders how he would ensure the end of militancy that is entirely indigenous in nature. 'cause it isn't and Perv has now implicitly admitted it The departure of troops from these main towns, which constitute the hub of resistance, would not mean the end of Indian rule. There will remain other security forces like the police and the puppet government and its agencies to do New Delhiâs bidding, and they would be considered legitimate targets by the freedom fighters, who would be content with nothing short of separation from India. Besides, how would the assurance of an end to resistance square with our contention that it is purely indigenous? Similarly incomprehensible is his idea of joining India to fight âterrorismâ in Kashmir. Would that involve sending Pakistani troops in the Valley to help India stamp out the freedom struggle and would an arrogant, sovereign state like India accept foreign presence on a territory it claims its integral part? Or are we talking about intelligence sharing, or handing over Kashmiris for internment in some Indian Abu Ghraib? The idea of ending the Kashmirisâ struggle with an outside help is a non-starter unless implemented in the overall context of completely winding up the Indian occupation. New Delhi has not taken long to turn down the proposal, maintaining that demilitarisation or redeployment of security forces was based on the assessment of the security situation and was a sovereign decision. Not only that. External Affairs Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna accused Pakistan of âcrossborder terrorism and violence perpetrated by Pakistan-based terrorist groupsâ when he remarked that as long as that continued, India would fulfil its responsibility to safeguard the lives and security of its citizens. He also rejected the self-government proposal, saying that the âstate already enjoyed autonomy.â With these ground realities and the Presidentâs own disappointment at the lack of Indian response on the core issue, the whole peace process that appeared flawed right from the start is fast dissolving into futility. The only beneficiary from the CBMs has been India, which has skilfully broken our resistance to developing commercial relations and initiating people-to-people contacts to the neglect of settling not only Kashmir but also other issues like Sir Creek, Siachen and water disputes. It has persisted in brutally suppressing the Kashmiris, while extracting one concession after another from Islamabad, even making it dilute its principled stand on the right of self-determination. Instead of meeting Pakistan half way, it has continued in its old game of fomenting trouble within Pakistan as the President has told the CNN/IBN channel about Indiaâs involvement in Balochistan. It is time Pakistan held a thorough review of the peace process and disabused itself of the notion that the course it adopted can ever lead to an equitable solution of the Kashmir dispute. There should be frank discussion on these issues, including the evidence of Indiaâs involvement in Balochistan, with Dr Manmohan Singh, when he visits Pakistan next month. |
| Posted by: john 2006-01-08 16:16 |