NEW DELHI/KARACHI, 10 September 2004 — India and Pakistan can make progress on resolving their thorny dispute over Kashmir only if Islamabad delivers on its promise to act against Kashmiri militants on its soil, India’s foreign minister said yesterday.
Natwar Singh said he had conveyed New Delhi’s position to his Pakistani counterpart, Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri, during talks held earlier this week. His comments indicated India had hardened its position at the two-day meeting that reviewed a nascent peace process between the nuclear-armed foes.
“I said unless you are going to deliver on the assurance given by the president of Pakistan ... that he will not allow territory of Pakistan to be used by terrorists to attack India ... they should not expect us to march forward on this,” Natwar told Indian TV news agency Asian News International (ANI).
Natwar’s comments were made in an interview to ANI, an affiliate of Reuters, in response to a question that Pakistan had repeatedly sought a timeframe to resolve the longstanding territorial dispute over Kashmir.
“I have told (Pakistani) President (Pervez) Musharraf and I also told Foreign Minister Kasuri that this is not a 100-meter race,” Natwar said. “This is a marathon and we cannot fix a time limit because these are very complex issues.” The Pakistani side said Islamabad was doing its best to curb anti-India militants and there was no evidence of any “massive infiltration” of militants into Indian Kashmir, hit by a revolt against Indian rule, Natwar said. “But I said it (infiltration) continues and we gave them the facts,” Natwar added.
In Karachi, Minister of Information Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said Pakistan was seriously engaged in dialogue with India, but cautioned that a breakthrough was not likely soon.
India and Pakistan concluded two days of talks on Monday with a declaration that they had made modest progress to revive a flagging peace process, but the neighbors showed no sign of resolving differences over Kashmir.
14 Killed in Kashmir
Fourteen people have died in a fresh upsurge of violence in Indian Kashmir, police said yesterday.
Two policemen were killed and six injured when suspected militants blew up their convoy in southern Kashmir yesterday, police said. Explosions destroyed two trucks of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) as they rolled into Bulldoda village, 185 kilometers northeast of the winter capital Jammu, a police spokesman said. “Two CRPF trucks were traveling from Doda to Jammu when militants used powerful improvised explosive devices to target them. Two CRPF personnel died on the spot and six others were critically injured,” he said.
Kashmir’s dominant group Hizbul Mujahedeen claimed responsibility for the attack in a telephone call to the Current News Service. Two civilians were killed and two injured during an exchange of fire between the militants and Indian troops near Shopian town, 50 kilometers southwest of Srinagar yesterday, the police spokesman said. “The shooting erupted during a cordon and search operation by the Indian soldiers,” he said. The killings sparked anti-government protests. Police said they used batons to disperse the villagers, injuring three people.
Indian troops in two separate clashes gunned down five people in the southern district of Rajouri overnight and yesterday. One Indian border guard member also died during one of the clashes.
Police said troops also shot dead a suspected militant in northern Kupwara district overnight. In Febri Dhok village in Rajouri district, suspected militants beheaded a man overnight, police said. They said two more people were killed by suspected militants in southern Pulwama and central Budgam districts.
