AHMEDABAD/NEW DELHI, 17 June — India would resume talks with Pakistan only after Islamabad shut down militants’ training camps and ceased cross-border terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, Home Minister L.K. Advani said here yesterday.
New Delhi had always kept the door open for talks but Pakistan must first stop militants’ incursion into Kashmir, Advani who is on a two-day visit here, said at a news conference.
“Even today, there are about 70 training camps, the bulk of them in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. They are used for giving shelter to militants and for their training,” Advani said.
“The terror infrastructure that Pakistan has built up has to be dismantled. Unless that is done, there is no point in resuming the dialogue,” he said. “Unless this is done, there is no point in dialogue,” Advani added.
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf had announced in May that militants incursions into Kashmir had ceased. Visiting British and US officials have told Indian leaders that they had been told by Musharraf that he was committed to preventing terrorists crossing over into Kashmir. New Delhi has expressed skepticism over the claims.
Ruling out the possibility of withdrawing the army from the borders, Advani said that “the question does not arise” till cross-border terrorism ceased. “In spite of all the assurances given by Pakistan, we cannot afford to relax our guard,” he added.
However, batches of soldiers who have been on a war footing on the border for the past six months have begun going on leave, but defense sources yesterday ruled out a military de-escalation.
The sources said that said the troops were in fact preparing for a long haul on the borders as they expected to be pulled out only after the elections in Kashmir were over in October.
Advani reiterated that the army will be there for the time being saying “We have to be still careful and alert, even after all the assurances given by Musharraf,” said Advani.
However, Defense Minister George Fernandes dismissed fears of India and Pakistan being at the edge of a war by saying that there is no perceptible tension along the Line of Control despite their armies deployed in an eyeball-to-eyeball situation.
“We have already withdrawn our navy, lifted ban on Pakistani over flights on Indian skies with an intention to defuse tension... Hope Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf will realize all these aspects,” Fernandes told reporters in Vijaywada yesterday.
India accuses Pakistan of sponsoring a militancy in Kashmir. Relations between the two rivals have plummeted drastically over the past six months, with the two sides between them massing about one million troops along their common borders.
The troop build-up followed an attack on the Parliament by suspected militants in December.
Tensions heightened further after an attack on a bus and an army camp in Jammu on May 14, in which 35 people including three rebels were killed.
Advani said the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Jaish-e-Muhammad, two militant groups which Delhi believes were behind the attack on the Parliament, had opened bases in Nepal.
The Nepalese government had been informed about India’s concerns regarding these two groups, Advani said. The minister said that for the first time the international community was beginning to take notice of the terrorism perpetuated by Pakistan against India.
On the situation in Gujarat, Advani, who represents Gandhinagar in Parliament, said the state government had done good work in relief and rehabilitation of riot victims.
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee had written to Chief Minister Narendra Modi earlier this month, asking him to speed up relief efforts in the state.
Over 1,000 people have died in sectarian strife in Gujarat that began Feb. 28, a day after 58 train passengers were killed at Godhra, 150 km from here.
Barring stray incidents, Gujarat has been comparatively peaceful since the beginning of this month.
