The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Sunday, May 19, 2002, Chandigarh, India

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Islamabad ‘disappointed,’ calls back Qazi

Islamabad, May 18
Pakistan today expressed “disappointment” over the Indian Government’s decision asking Islamabad to withdraw its High Commissioner in New Delhi Ashraf Jehangir Qazi and said it was recalling him.

“The government of Pakistan has noted with disappointment the decision of the Government of India to ask for the withdrawal of Pakistan’s High Commissioner in New Delhi. Accordingly, Pakistan has decided to recall the High Commissioner,” the Foreign Office said in a statement.

“The government of Pakistan will work for the de-escalation of tension between Pakistan and India and for the complete normalisation of diplomatic relations between the two countries,” it said.

The statement followed an emergency meeting of the Foreign Ministry officials to discuss the Indian government’s decision.

Earlier, Pakistan’s Defence spokesman Maj-Gen Rashid Qureshi, said India’s decision amounted to expulsion of Qazi.

Meanwhile, as tension mounts along the Indo-Pak border, President Pervez Musharraf has directed all military personnel, including top Generals working with civilian departments, to immediately report to Army Headquarters for further orders.

Analysis
Time for Bush to put pressure on Pak
Action after exhausting diplomatic options
T.R. Ramachandran
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 18
The Atal Behari Vajpayee government has set in motion steps in exhausting the diplomatic options coupled with calibrating the security options by tightening the noose on the points of infiltration along the Line of Control.

There are indications that the BJP-led NDA government will impress on the George Bush administration in Washington once again to pressurise Islamabad to stop cross-border terrorism in a specified time-frame.

If the fresh effort by the USA fails then New Delhi will move ahead with its plan of action of putting an end to the “senseless acts of terrorism” aided and abetted by Pakistan.

The exercise is inevitable in keeping Washington in the loop while making it abundantly clear to Washington that New Delhi has shown tremendous restraint for too long and cannot accept Pakistan’s machinations of targeting the innocent in J and K to continue indefinitely.

Armed with the unanimous resolution in Parliament yesterday in the wake of the terrorist mayhem in Jammu on May 14, the Vajpayee government has to take firm and resolute measures to nullify Pakistan’s proxy war against India.

There is a growing sense of disquiet in political circles here that the Bush administration for all its bluster in launching the global war against terrorism after the September 11 incidents in New York and Washington DC has been molly coddling the Pakistan President, General Pervez Musharraf, for its own strategic interests.

In the operations room of Army Headquarters, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Union Home Minister L.K. Advani and Union Defence Minister George Fernandes were briefed in detail about the options before the security forces in tackling the menace of terrorism.

There is a strong section of opinion that the time to take action against Pakistan is now. Military and defence experts have been wondering what has the Vajpayee government gained domestically or internationally by massing the troops on the border with Pakistan for such an interminably long period.

The political leadership is believed to have asked the security forces to gear up its preparedness even as the troops remain in eyeball-to-eyeball contact on the border with Pakistan for nearly five months now. It is apparent the timing and type of action will be of India’s choosing with the monsoon round the corner.

The government has maintained that there is going to be no de-escalation or withdrawal of troops from the frontlines till Pakistan stops cross-border terrorism.

Even as the armed forces believe that the time for action is now, the Vajpayee government wants to review and assess the situation before taking a decision which is not seen as being knee jerk, jingoistic or perking up the BJP-led NDA’s sagging image.

Mr Advani’s reply in Parliament leaves no room for doubt that tackling the scourge of terrorism in J and K is the country’s baby. He had no doubt that it is for the Vajpayee government to firm up its strategy for reaching what he described as a “decisive phase” in the fight against Pakistan sponsored terrorism.