India warns US it may be about to attack Pakistan

Hindustani Times ^ | 5/17/02 | Saurabh Shukla

[TheConservator]

Home Minister LK Advani's expression of "deep disappointment" with the US in Parliament was matched by tough language to US Ambassador Robert Blackwill behind closed doors.

In meetings on Friday with National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra and Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh, Blackwill was told the US had failed to fulfil promises to restrain Pakistan from supporting terrorism. India, therefore, would take "appropriate action". A similar message was given to US Secretary of State Colin Powell when he spoke to Singh earlier.

Blackwill's assurances that the US saw the fight against Kashmir militancy as part of the global war on terrorism received a sceptical response.

India said Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf had done nothing concrete to rein in terrorists — despite US promises to the contrary. India showed evidence that cross-border terrorism had increased after Pakistan pledged to fight terror.

Blackwill's request for more time to get Pakistan to comply was rejected.

Blackwill expressed US President George W Bush's concerns about tensions escalating into a full-scale war. India, he was told, would not take rash decisions but as a sovereign country it reserved the right to act on its security needs. India was urged not to break diplomatic relations with Pakistan.

Following these exchanges, there was a ratcheting up of diplomatic activity in the city.

Blackwill and senior US embassy officials reviewed the situation late into the night and consulted with Washington. There was speculation that besides Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, expected in South Asia in the next fortnight, Powell may also fly here.

[swarthyguy]

YOu don't think that US or 3rd party commandos would be ready to secure Pakistan's nukes? Would that be a factor in the Indians thinking? They might be counting on the US doing just that.

[rwfromkansas]

That is a bit disconcerting...but surely they would not actually launch them.

[Almondjoy]

China wouldn't dare pop into this bad boy.. espically with as many US assets in the area that there is.. I guranatee if China tries to take advantage of this situation against India the US will be drawn in, in about 2 seconds in order to prevent India from feeling the need to use nukes.

[Almondjoy]

All out war that may as well kill millions of civilians(good or evil in your eyes) on both sides is never a good solution to terrorism.

[Jorge]

That depends on your definition of victorious. Pakistan still controls much of the territory India claims as its own.

My definition of "victorious" is that India defeated Pakistan.
And India claims and controls the majority of Kashmir, with only pockets of pro-Pakistan separatists carrying on terrorist activities.

From Kashmir web site;

"Elections were held in Kashmir and Dr. Farooq Abdullah, the leader of Jammu & Kashmir's main political party, the National Conference (NC), was elected Chief Minister. He is ruling the state today and has clearly said that Jammu & Kashmir cannot and will not be part of Pakistan. He has pledged full support to the Indian government to fight against the terrorists and the traitors who want to break away from India."

[BJClinton]

Indian politicos are playing to the Hindu street.

My thoughts exactly. This is more sabre-rattling.

[GOP_1900AD]

They are being very generous in their statements. We have utterly coddled Pakistan way beyond anything warranted by Pakistan's value as a platform to fight the War. If anything, Pakistan would have been far more useful under the combined Indo-American boot, occupied and filled to the brim with combined forces. The forces would then fan out into Iran, Iraq, Nepal, Myanmar, Laos, and perhaps, even part of Russia and China, in order to proactively contain the Trans-Asian Axis prior to the Axis getting the first shot. My plan is precisely the sort of plan that might have prevented WW-II, had, for example, the French and British absolutely swarmed the Rhineland in 1936. Similarly, if we swarm the core of the formative (WW-III) Axis now, we can, by prosecuting WW-III-lite, prevent WW-III-grand.

A place for provoking additional out of the box geopolitical thinking.... only if you dare...

[TheConservator]

Additional info from the Hindustani Times:

The Government sought — and won — the Opposition's support for any response, military or otherwise, against Pakistan for Tuesday's attack in Jammu. Parliament was united in saying India would fight to finish Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha [India's parliamentary bodies] adopted identical resolutions on the last day of Parliament's budget session to convey this message.

Even though the Opposition was not satisfied with Home Minister LK Advani's reply to a the debate in the Lok Sabha, it showed considerable restraint and made it clear that its immediate concern was to strengthen the Government's hands.

Nevertheless, [the Opposition] advised the Government, and the BJP, to replace rhetoric with action. “Rhetoric is no substitute for a strategy,” said Leader of the Opposition Sonia Gandhi. Advani praised the Opposition, particularly Sonia Gandhi, for setting the tone of the debate by calling for unity of purpose and action.

Advani said in both Houses he could not reveal India's plans for a response. But he promised the Government would act with purpose after finalising its strategy in consultation with defence officials.

Advani also said Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee would take Opposition leaders into confidence and address the nation on India's response. "A right decision will be taken and you all will be informed. No announcement can be made from Parliament," he said.

Asked by NDA allies and the Opposition why terrorists could not be stopped from carrying out such attacks, Advani said, "We do it if we are able to identify them. This year alone we have eliminated 601 terrorists in intelligence-based operations."

But the Opposition said Tuesday's attack had exposed the weakness of India's security apparatus and the Government had been found wanting in its efforts to sensitize international opinion to India’s position.

One thing said clearly in the Lok Sabha was that the US's pledge to fight global terror was hollow. All parties were “deeply disappointed” that the US, the leader of the international coalition against terrorism, had done little to force Pakistan to stop acts of terrorism in India and instead wanted New Delhi to exercise restraint.

Sonia Gandhi, and CPI(M), Samajwadi Party and Shiv Sena leaders criticised the US. ”We are told that the war on global terror is to be fought wherever terrorism exists,” Sonia Gandhi said. ”But so far we see this as a statement of intent and not as a statement of facts.”

In his reply, Advani acknowledged the Government too was deeply disappointed by Washington's failure to pressure Pakistan to stop violence in J&K. MPs were particularly upset at US Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca’s statement that India should not be stubborn when actually it was the victim of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism.

The Lok Sabha's resolution at the end of the debate reminded the international community that India had consistently tried to build friendly relations with Pakistan but had not received the desired response.

[kezekiel]

don't forget you are using muslim oil in your car, not israeli oil, and not indian oil.

So what's your point? That my loyalties should be with "muslim oil" rather than freedom?

[TheConservator]

And this is the meeting at which India's final decision to attack will likely be made (again as reported by the Hindustani Times):

The Cabinet Committee on Security will meet here on Saturday to review the situation arising out of the terrorist attacks near Jammu on Tuesday, official sources said here on Friday.

The meeting to be presided by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee is expected to be attended by among others Home Minister L K Advani, Defence Minister George Fernandes and External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh.

[VaBthang4]

I see India attempting to take a page from the Israelis.

I wonder if they intend to perform Special Forces assaults into Pakistan and Kashmir as opposed to introducing conventional military units.

[BJClinton]

don't forget you are using muslim oil in your car,

Actually, only 17% of the petroleum we use if "Muslim"

not israeli oil,

True. But many of the weapons in our arsenal have been improved by Israel. And Israel is the only nation in the region that allows us to place early warning radar in their country.

and not indian oil.

India is rapidly becoming a powerhouse economy, we need to be on their good side. Also, they are far more democratic, thus trustworthy, than most Muslim countries.

[VaBthang4]

"They can't see through walls, they can't hear conversations from miles away, and they can't always find their target."

Two out of three....wrong.

[section9]

YOu don't think that US or 3rd party commandos would be ready to secure Pakistan's nukes? Would that be a factor in the Indians thinking? They might be counting on the US doing just that.

It depends on where the Pakistani nukes are deployed.

India might count on it, but there is no assurance that we would succeed. Pakistan must have a redoubt somwhere where these things are kept.

Unfortunately, some of these may have been dispersed. Even worse, one of these could easily have fallen into the wrong hands.

Be Seeing You,

Chris

[Thundergod]

I don't know about that. The "Hindu Street" is definately not the "Muslim Street". The Hindus are not really about killing everyone who is not a Hindu. It's true, though, that the Hindus are damned sick and tired of a thousand years of Mohammedan savagery, oppression, terrorism and murder in their country. But, is there really a big desire for a war against Pakistan among Hindus in India?

[Aaron_A]

Here's the "Loose Nukes recovery team"....

[mikeIII]

The irony is, we're restrainig India from going after the same Islamists and extremists that Pakistan is denying us from going after. Far from being useful, Pakistan is a hindrance, and is a haven for Al Qaida. India should be allowed to annihilate them.

[RightWhale]

don't forget you are using muslim oil in your car

Oil? What's that? Everybody has new bicycles with fresh rubber don't they? [not those impractical racing bikes of course] There's enough oil to keep the necessities stocked at the local warehouse store. Maybe somebody will buy that pointless 454 Silverado and put it up on blocks at his house. Maybe the kids won't get to their extracurriculars across town for a few years or decades until the world stabilizes again. Don't need imported oil except to support our decadence. Rationing and the 35 mph national speed limit can come again. Take a look around, put things in your memory so you can tell the grandkids what it used to be like. Europe in 1939 was fairly modern and war was unimaginable.

Don't imagine that there will be oil from the ME or even some more local fields during a full war or soon to be reestablished afterwards. Tankers are big, juicy, easy, indefensible targets with no place to hide and oil terminals the same.

Is oil important? Maybe somewhat, but it's not the most important thing in life.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

China is the big question. All bets are off if China comes in.

Were China to intercede, I would agree with you. But I think this would be highly unlikely, as would be the use of nukes by either side. Why hasn't either side already attacked/invaded the other? Each is certainly ready. The reason is that each wants to be a world-player, and the "world community" would certainly react negatively to such an event. China interceding is many moves away from a hypothetical. It is more likely that the USA will press Pakistan to counter the radical 'slims, and force them to leave India alone. Pakistan is currently providing "safe harbor" to the muslim extremists from Afghanistan. This cannot be abided by the USA, and it will not be abided, IMO. Just need the right degree of diplomacy (translation: let us help you get them, or we will topple your regime, Mr. Mussaaraff). The USA is more closely aligned with India's interests than Pakistan's. Regardless of the size of their polulation, they could be rolled over, IMHO.