Posted on 05/25/2002 8:30:30 AM PDT by flamefront
New Delhi, May 25: Musharraf is reported to have ordered Pakistani Army's 10th Corps, deployed in northern Pakistan and facing Indian forces in Kashmir, to block the mountain routes traditionally used by militants to cross the border. The Washington Post on Saturday reported that the Bush administration is stepping up pressure on Musharraf to halt the militants? infiltration into Kashmir.
The US Sate Department officials hope this move will definitely calm the tension in the South Asian region. "We're focused like a laser beam in trying to stop a war over the next two to three weeks," a senior administration official has been quoted by The Post as saying.
Earlier, the Sate Department had announced its plans to send Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage to the region to cool the tension. British Foreign Secretary is also scheduled to visit India and Pak next week.
Meanwhile, the US strategy of pressing Musharraf is aimed at keeping India from launching military operations against Pakistan. The Post adds: "Pakistan's military commanders have decided to take whatever steps necessary to prevent extremists from crossing into Indian territory, according to senior Pakistani officials familiar with the discussions held Thursday at the Joint Staff headquarters in Rawalpindi."
A Pakistani Minister also said: "The government decided to take a leap forward toward a durable peace with India by realigning its position on militant violence after receiving international assurances that India would also take significant steps to end the decades-old stalemate over Kashmir."
Musharraf has also told his Cabinet that Islamabad had to adjust its Kashmir policy to the new global realities without compromising its position that the territory be freed from Indian control, according to a meeting participant, The Post says.
That simply isn't true. We have had troops stationed in bases in Pakistan for months now. We've conducted joint operations in the frontier areas, resulting the capture of the highest al-Qaida official, Zubaydeh, so far. They have turned over people to us without going through the extradition process. There's more, but it's pretty clear that your mind is closed on the matter and I'm wasting my time.
Say what you want about Pakistan, but the army is very tightly controlled and the discipline there is real. Those nukes are under very tight control, and to our satisfaction. Pakistan is not Somalia with nukes.
All it would take is another large terror attack. The Indians are on a hair trigger. If there are no more terror attacks this summer, then India will likely stand down.
That may be. Al-Qaida would love nothing more than to start such a war. It could get rid of Musharraf, and help unite the muslim world. It would certainly cause chaos, and that's just what they want.
Huh? Pakistan is a military dictatorship. The only control over the Military is the Generals who run it.
Even when Pakistan had a civilian government, the president had to ask the CIA to brief her on what Pakistans nuclear capabilities were. Her military would not tell her. Tightly controlled? What a joke.
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