NEW DELHI/ISLAMABAD, 20 May — India announced increased mobilization of its armed forces yesterday after four of its soldiers were killed in a raid by secessionists in disputed Kashmir. The government’s decision came as troops of the two nuclear-armed nations exchanged heavy mortar fire on their border, driving out thousands from their homes.
Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh announced at the end of a meeting between Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and his security advisers that India was reconsidering Pakistan’s Most Favored Nation (MFN) status.
Under the increased mobilization, India’s paramilitary forces operating in Kashmir will be transferred from the command of the Interior Ministry to the army, and the coast guard will be placed under the command of the navy. Military experts said the move would add muscle to India’s million-plus army as well as crank up the country’s war machine for rapid response in case of conflict with Pakistan.
“If any artillery fire comes on our forces from across the border then they will be immediately retaliated,” Singh said. The foreign minister ruled out as “fiction” speculation that India was weighing cross-border strikes on secessionist camps in Pakistani-ruled Kashmir. He, however, said the Cabinet Committee on Security had also discussed a review of the MFN status accorded by India to Pakistan. No decision was taken and the issue would be discussed once the commerce minister returned to the country, he said.
Kashmiri separatists fired at a joint Indian Army-paramilitary camp about 153 km (95 miles) north of Jammu, the winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir state, killing four soldiers and wounding 12, state police spokesman Subhash Raina said. One of the attackers was killed, he said. Jaswant Singh called the incident a “terrorist attack.”
On the volatile border in disputed Kashmir, both sides traded heavy mortar fire during the night. Pakistani officials said at least seven Pakistanis were killed in the border violence over the weekend. India said at least four people were injured. An estimated 14,000 people have so far left their homes along the disturbed border districts of Jammu, Indian officials said.
In Islamabad, Information Minister Nisar Memon said about 20 villages had been badly damaged by the Indian shelling, and villagers were moving to safer places. He said India is deliberately targeting civilians.
He also accused India of trying to “defame” Pakistan because New Delhi was unhappy with the international praise Islamabad has received for its role in the US-led coalition against terrorism.
“In the past, India did its best to isolate us from the international community, but they failed,” Memon said. “Pakistan is not involved in any acts of terrorism and India will never be able to declare us a terrorist state.”
Lt. Col. H.S. Oberoi of the Indian Army claimed that at least 15 Pakistani soldiers have either been killed or wounded overnight Saturday, and more than 20 Pakistani field fortifications have been destroyed. He said there were no casualties on the Indian side, though six civilians were injured in the crossfire.
