Asia Times: India, Pakistan in a spat of their own


	September 21, 2001	atimes.com

India/Pakistan

India, Pakistan in a spat of their own
By Muhammad Rafique

ISLAMABAD - Forget about any improvement, not to mention normalization, of relations between India and Pakistan for some time to come. The terror attacks in Washington and New York and the ensuing developments in South Asia have seen the neighbors reverting to public vitriol not seen for some time.

Pakistan's President General Pervez Musharraf, in his address to the nation over radio and television on Wednesday evening, said that the situation facing Pakistan was similar to the one in 1971 when India fought a war with Pakistan, leading to the creation of the independent state of Bangladesh, which was then East Pakistan.

And in an apparent attempt to divert attention from growing opposition within the country to his regime's cooperation with the United States in hunting down Osama bin Laden, the president said, "India wants to isolate us, move closer to the United States and get us declared a terrorist state. They [India] have offered all their military facilities, all their bases and full logistic support. They want to harm our strategic assets and the Kashmir cause ... I want to tell them to lay off."

The comments drew a sharp response from Delhi, with a foreign ministry spokeswoman on Thursday saying that "instead of focusing on terrorism, which is responsible for the present situation, it is most regrettable that the president of Pakistan continues to give voice to an anti-India tirade".

India also responded by formally warning the US against seeking Pakistan's help and cooperation in the global war against terrorism, alleging that Pakistan itself was sponsoring it. This was conveyed to US ambassador Robert Blackwell at a meeting he had with Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan.

Referring to Kashmir, the minister told the ambassador that if the US was serious about fighting terrorism it should take into account that Pakistan itself was sponsoring it. The ambassador also said that the US had not sought "any help" from India up to now.

While welcoming Musharraf's support in his speech for the United States, White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said that with regard to the Pakistani leaders' apprehensions about India, President George W Bush had talked to Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Fleischer said that Bush was aware of the broader regional implications and the context of any action taken in the area and was confident that the regional states also understood the cause they were united behind.

It has been reported that one of Pakistan's conditions to providing support to the US to have Osama bin Laden handed over was to help resolve the Kashmir issue, economic assistance, and the lifting of sanctions imposed after the nuclear blasts of 1998.

In Kashmir itself, guerrilla activities have far from abated. In the border town of Sialkot in Pakistani Punjab on Wednesday a bomb blast killed eight people and injured dozens, Such attacks are generally blamed on Indian intelligence units, as are attacks in Indian Kashmir blamed on the Pakistani Inter-Service Intelligence.

In his speech, Musharraf said there was a danger of India attacking Pakistan's nuclear installations and missile systems while the crisis was on. "Our air force jets have gone on high alert."

But this is not the only front that the military regime has opened in the aftermath of the attacks in the US. The president admitted that only 10 to 15 percent of the Pakistani population were "sentimental" about his regime's support of the US - a euphemism for opposition. Out of a population of 140 million, this is a lot of opposition.

As tension mounts in the region there is a long stream of refugees leaving Afghanistan, and similar long lines of jihadis (holy warriors) heading in the opposite direction to offer themselves in any fight against the US. These latter are said to number several hundred thousand. Although the Pakistan-Afghanistan border is officially closed, its 1,400 kilometers offer many crossing points.

And in the tribal areas along Pakistan's borders, chieftains have shown their solidarity for their fellow Pathans in Afghanistan. Almost all the Taliban are Pathans, and in the tribal areas Pakistani laws rarely apply - something of grave concern to the central authorities. Musharraf has met with tribal chieftains to persuade them to side with his policy rather than adopt an "emotional approach", but they appear unmoved.

Friday, the Muslim Sabbath, will be a critical time for the country as religious groups have called for a nation-wide strike. Non-essential diplomats and their families have started leaving ahead of any US strikes.

And in cafes in the late evenings secret agents who do not look very secret outnumber customers, intently listening to the conversations that are mainly on developments in the region and coming scenarios. One popular view is that the Americans have already landed in Pakistan.

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