Posted on 05/21/2002 3:55:56 PM PDT by Black Agnes
India made detailed preparations for war with Pakistan yesterday, although senior officers said offensive operations would have to wait for the end of searing summer temperatures and the monsoon rain which follows.
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New Delhi placed all paramilitary units along the border under army control and the coast guard under naval command. The foreign minister, Jaswant Singh, said this was "standard operating procedure" when preparing for action.
The country's military is planning for conflict in September, although New Delhi has announced an "exhaustive" diplomatic offensive to pressure Pakistan into ending support for cross-border attacks against the disputed state of Kashmir.
But with the sub-continent suffering a ferocious heatwave that has sent temperatures soaring as high as 122F, officers conceded that an offensive at the moment would be impossible, with temperatures inside tanks reaching 160F.
"There will be war but, in all likelihood, it will take place after the summer and the monsoon rains," a senior army officer said, declining to be named. There was no other way the Indian army could "let off steam and teach Pakistan a lesson", he added.
As the two sides traded intensive artillery fire across the border yesterday for the fourth day in succession Indian officials maintained New Delhi's hard line, rejecting Pakistani proposals for independent observers to be deployed along the frontier.
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"The figures of infiltration [by Islamic militants] have gone up," said an Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Nirupama Rao. "There's no point in seeking to deflect attention by talking of involving third parties."
India's aggressive stance is creating increasing anxiety in Pakistan. An Islamabad Foreign Ministry spokesman, Aziz Ahmed Khan, appealed for pressure on New Delhi.
"We hope the international community will increase further its efforts considering the hostile postures adopted by India and convince India to see reason and come to the negotiating table for discussions and dialogue," he said.
But New Delhi has been infuriated by the continuing infiltration of Islamic militants fighting its rule in the Himalayan state of Jammu and Kashmir. It accuses Pakistan of providing them with bases, a charge that Islamabad denies.
At least a million men have been mobilised on both sides of the border since an attack by militants on the Indian parliament five months ago.
America and other powers have been lobbying hard to calm the crisis, fearing that war could quickly result in a nuclear exchange.
Pakistan has responded by calling up army reserves, retired officers and civil defence units and has emptied government hospital beds to prepare for casualties. Yesterday the Indian defence minister, George Fernandez, and senior generals began a two-day survey of the border region to assess troop and tank mobilisation.
Pro-war sentiment is widespread in India. Retired Maj Gen Afsir Karim, a member of the National Security Council Advisory Board, said: "We have neither economic nor diplomatic clout against Pakistan and the only instrument left is the military one."
Gen Karim, a Muslim who fought in two of India's three wars against Pakistan, in 1965 and 1971, added: "There is no point in restricting our options indefinitely. We need to chalk out a strategy and strike at a time and place of our choosing."
The normally tense relations between the nuclear-armed neighbours intensified after last week's suicide attack by three gunmen at an army base near Jammu in which 31 people, including 11 women and 11 children, died.
India blamed the attack on a Pakistan-sponsored insurgent group fighting Kashmir's 13-year civil war. Islamabad has denied the charge.
"We will try to exhaust other options first and if they don't work we will think of war," said the Kashmir chief minister, Farooq Abdullah.
Why bother, you praise this indian publication and pakistani author, yet you airily dismiss attributions to other indian newspapers when it's not convenient.
you assume that the US is going to quickly jump in on behalf of the Indians
It would be in the US's self interest; nukes slipping out of pakistani hands would be as big a threat to US assets as to india. Regardless, india should call pakistan's nuclear bluff.
please explain how India could root out terrorism in a nation of 150 million armed Pakistanis
Please explain how following a policy of inaction and appeasement is going to bring any kind of peace.
They certainly aren't going to get it by enduring constant attacks by nutcases and listening to Pakistani lies about terrorism.
Amazon will lose half their customer service reps too.
Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra
I understand, but do not share, your enthusiasm for punishing Pakistan for all of the truly terrible things it has done to India over the years. I'm focused more on what the dynamics between the two countries mean to the US and our goals in the region today.
If this situation were occurring pre-9/11, I'd still be interested, but probably wouldn't care in the least if India invaded Pakistan. Even if it went nuclear, it wouldn't concern me terribly much as long as the conflict didn't widen. Neither Pakistan nor India were considered important allies, and both were under US sanctions.
But that's all changed now. The US has a very strong interest in the region now, and we have an intense interest in preventing a war between these two countries.
If India attacks Pakistan, the terrorists will have achieved a significant victory. They are trying very hard to cause it.
It's that simple, but it's apparently very difficult for some people to grasp.
Actually i'm more concerned about punishing Pakistan for it's so called 'cooperation' with the US. They have done masterful job of presenting a veneer of cooperation doing the minimum it takes to preserve appearances.
The official caption reads:
Apu Nahasapeemapetilon
Apu seems to work at the Kwik-E-Mart 24 hours a day, seven days a week. But please don't be thinking it's only work that Apu is having on his mind, my goodness, no! He manages to spend some of his free time with his wife Manjula and his brother Sanjay. Apu peddles the usual Kwik-E-Mart fare (at remarkably high prices): luscious heat-lamp dogs, chewy frozen microwave burritos, and the ever popular squishee.
Apu himself doesn't eat any of this stuff himself since, in keeping with his Hindu beliefs, he is a strict vegan.
To Apu's great disappointment, his attempt to bridge the gap between East and West with tofu dogs, curry crullers, and chutney Squishees met with resounding disinterest from customers.
The Bush Administration are not idiots as you are implying. They know who is cooperating with us and who isn't. Iran isn't. Pakistan is.
India will not be cooperating if they damage Pakistan to the point where it can no longer cooperate with the US. Worse yet, it will increase terrorism, probably even within India. Destroy the Pak army, and 100% of Pakistanis will support terrorism as their only remaining weapon against India.
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