The Indian prime minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, today rallied his soldiers to prepare for a “decisive battle” against Islamist insurgents that India claims are supported by Pakistan.
With one million troops faced off across the disputed Kashmiri border and Western diplomats tensed for possible nuclear war, Mr Vajpayee addressed 600 Indian troops stationed on the ceasefire line that divides the Indian and Pakistani-controlled areas of Kashmir.
Mr Vajpayee asked the soldiers “to be ready for sacrifice. Your goal should be victory. It’s time to fight a decisive battle. We’ll write a new chapter of victory”.
He arrived in Kashmir late yesterday for a three-day tour of the disputed region. He also plans to visit the survivors of last week’s attack on a military barracks in Kashmir that killed 34 people, mostly the wives and children of Indian soldiers.
Mr Vajpayee added that India has been forced to fight a “proxy war” with Pakistani-supported militants who have battled for Kashmir’s independence or absorption into Pakistan since 1989. Pakistan denies the allegations that and says it simply offers “moral support” to the jihadi groups.
“The challenge has been thrown at India and we accept it,” Mr Vajpayee said. “The world understands that there is injustice against us but does has not openly come out in our favour. Nevertheless, we will protect ourselves.”
Dozens of civilians and soldiers have been killed in the last five days along the frontier in heavy cross-border shelling, and yesterday Pakistan’s high commissioner in London warned that the two countries were “very close” to war.
The troops currently massed on the border represent the largest military build up for India and Pakistan since their last war in 1971.
The foreign secretary, Jack Straw, and the US secretary of state, Colin Powell, are both due to visit the region next week in the hope of averting a third war over Kashmir.
Yesterday Mr Straw described the possibility of a nuclear exchange between the countries as “very real and disturbing”.
22 May , 2002
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/may/22/kashmir.india
Editor