Posted on 05/17/2002 6:22:21 AM PDT by Dallas
NEW DELHI, May 17 (UPI) -- At least two people were killed in heavy mortar shelling between Indian and Pakistani troops along their shared but disputed border in Kashmir region.
The troops have been trading heavy gunfire along the Jammu-Poonch sector of the disputed border, the Press Trust of India reported, citing Defense Ministry sources.
The Indian Parliament was debating how to counter terrorism in Kashmir, where Islamic rebels earlier this week massacred 32 people, including 11 children.
Three Islamic militants dressed in army uniform on Tuesday had waylaid a passenger bus and fired at passengers, killing 10 people. Later, the rebels stormed a military camp, killing 22 people, including 11 children and other family members of the soldiers.
India has often blamed neighboring Pakistan for abetting and fueling terrorism in Kashmir by funding the dozen-odd separatist groups. Islamabad denies the charges but says it provides moral support to Islamic rebels whom it calls "freedom fighters."
Tension is continuing to mount along the border, where hundreds of thousands of troops have been positioned since the Dec. 13 attack on the Indian Parliament. The attack has been blamed on Pakistan-based rebel groups.
Indian officials say Pakistani troops fire at Indian positions to give cover to the Islamic rebels infiltrating from Pakistani into the Indian side through the porous Kashmir border.
The United States has asked both New Delhi and Islamabad to show restraint. The Tuesday massacre took place when U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca was visiting the Indian capital to defuse tension between New Delhi and Islamabad.
"We have always said that both parties need to exercise restraint," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said on Thursday. "They need to take steps to reduce violence. An important concern in the process has always been to end the infiltration into Kashmir."
Referring to Rocca's visit to India and Pakistan, Boucher said, "The essential mission to go out and see to keep in touch with two very important friends remains the same."
The visit, Boucher said, "is part of our continuing talks with India and Pakistan that seek to lower tensions between the two countries and encourage them to engage in dialogue. We have repeatedly stated our strong concerns about the potential for conflict between India and Pakistan. The fact that both countries have a demonstrated nuclear capability only heightens our concern."
Meanwhile, Indian government is under tremendous domestic political pressure to weed out terrorism from Kashmir. Lawmakers were debating an action plan on Kashmir on Friday, which is the last day of the budget session.
Lawmaker Madanlal Khurana of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's Bharatiya Janata party said the government should take tough steps against Pakistan and attack terrorist camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
"We should fight a decisive battle against Pakistan to teach them a lesson," he said. "The PM had talked about a decisive fight, we should translate that; we should tell Pakistan enough is enough. We should attack terrorist camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir," Khurana told Star TV news.
India has also decided to mount a diplomatic offensive against Islamabad. Indian envoys abroad have been asked to apprise the host countries of Pakistan's alleged complicity in violence in Kashmir.
Kashmir is the site of a 13-year-old Islamic uprising in which 36,000 people have been killed. Rebels put the toll at 80,000.
Both India and Pakistan claim the whole of Kashmir and have fought two of ther three wars over the picturesque Himalayan region.
Copyright © 2002 United Press International
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