Archives

NEW DELHI, Feb 6 (AFP) - Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee Wednesday warned Pakistan it would never take the disputed region of Kashmir and reiterated troops massed on the border would be recalled only after Islamabad ended "cross-border terrorism".

However the prime minister, on a pre-election campaign tour to the northern frontier state of Punjab, said India did not want war with its nuclear rival.

"They may celebrate Kashmir Day, but they will not get Kashmir," Vajpayee told his Hindu nationalist BJP partymen a day after Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf marked 'Kashmir Solidarity Day' with an emotive speech condemning alleged atrocities in Indian Kashmir.

"Just by observing Kashmir Day they are not going to get Kashmir... you will not get Kashmir," the Indian premier said at pre-poll rallies in the towns of Ferozepur and Pathankot.

"Pakistan must stop dreaming."

The constant theme throughout Vajpayee's speeches was New Delhi's allegations that Islamabad supported "cross-border terrorism" -- Islamic insurgency in the Indian zone of divided Kashmir.

The two sides have fought two of their three wars over the Himalayan region since the subcontinent's independence in 1947.

India and Pakistan have been poised for another one since a December attack on the Indian parliament -- blamed by New Delhi on Pakistan-based militant groups -- triggered a sharp escalation in military tensions.

"The army will return to the barracks once Pakistan stops cross-border terrorism and only then talks can begin," Vajpayee said in Pathankot ahead of key regional elections later this month.

"We have deployed the army not for attacking Pakistan but to defend our own territory."

Vajpayee stressed India had no wish for a war.

"But if the need arises, we will not hesitate in taking any step to save ourselves," Vajpayee was quoted as saying by television networks.

Punjab and three other states, including the politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh, will go to the polls from February 13 and the theme of Vajpayee's speech confirmed that his BJP party would be using the issues of Pakistan and terrorism to try to fuel patriotic support.

Vajpayee in his addresses also accused Islamabad of trechery.

"Pakistan has broken India's trust. If Pakistan wants to improve its relations with India, it must regain that trust," he said.

"The day I became prime minister I tried to establish good relations with Pakistan.

"I went on a peace and friendship mission to Lahore by bus with the message of love, but was reciprocated with an invasion in Kargil," he said.

Vajpayee made a landmark trip to the Pakistani city of Lahore in 1999 which was followed by a military conflict between the two rivals the same year in the Kargil region of Kashmir.

"I invited Musharraf to Agra, but the talks failed due to the adamant attitude of the general because he had nothing but Kashmir in his mind," Vajpayee continued, referring to the India-Pakistan summit that collapsed last July in the Taj Mahal town.

The BJP currently controls Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state, but opinion polls suggest it will lose the coming election there -- an outcome that could seriously undermine the stability of the Vajpayee's multi-party federal coalition.

News | Business | Features | Editorial | Security
Politics | World | Letters | Sports | Obituaries |

Produced by Lake House
Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
Comments and suggestions to :Web Manager