M A I N   N E W S

Pak PM rakes up Kashmir; US says won’t intervene

Islamabad/Washington, October 20
Ahead of his meeting with President Barack Obama, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today sought US intervention in resolving the Kashmir issue. The Obama Administration, on its part, was quick to dismiss the demand.

“There has not been an iota of change in our policy on Kashmir which considers it a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan,” said a senior US official.

Earlier in the day, Sharif,who arrived in the US on four-day visit, had said: "Though India did not want such (third party) intervention, but the world powers should get involved to resolve the (Kashmir) issue.

"India and Pakistan both were nuclear powers and the region was a nuclear flash point," state-run APP news agency quoted the Prime Minister as saying. Replying to a query on Kashmir, Sharif said during his US visit in July 1999 amid the Kargil conflict, he had clearly told then President Bill Clinton that if the US intervened, Kashmir issue could be resolved.

"I told him if he spends 10 per cent of the time he was spending on the Middle East, the Kashmir issue between the two countries would resolve," he said.

Sharif said for the last 60 years both sides were entangled in an arms race. — PTI

India rejects Sharif’s demand

Rejecting Nawaz Sharif's demand for US intervention in resolving the Kashmir issue, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Sunday said India will not accept this as the matter is a bilateral one agreed to between the two nations. "There is no way in which India will accept any intervention on an issue that is entirely accepted in the Simla Agreement as a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan," he said.

US quietly releasing $1.6 bn aid to Pak

Washington, October 20
The United States has quietly decided to release more than $1.6 billion in military and economic aid to Pakistan. The aid was suspended when relations between the two countries disintegrated over the Abbottabad raid that killed Osama bin Laden and the deadly US air strikes against Pakistani soldiers.

Officials and Congressional aides said ties have improved enough to allow the money to flow again. The US and Pakistan recently announced the restart of their “strategic dialogue” after a long pause.

Pakistan’s new Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is traveling to Washington for talks this coming week with President Barack Obama.

According to Fox News, Congress has cleared most of the money, and it should start moving early next year, officials and Congressional aides said.

The State Department and the US Agency for International Development informed Congress that it planned to restart a wide range of assistance for Pakistan, mostly dedicated to helping the country fight terrorism.

The US sees that effort as essential as it withdraws troops from neighbouring Afghanistan next year and tries to leave a stable government behind. Other funds include help for Pakistani law enforcement and a multibillion-dollar dam in disputed territory. — ANI

Clinton ‘sought’ Sharif's help to avert Qaida attack

The US sought Pakistan’s help in 1998 to prevent Osama bin Laden from launching an Al-Qaida attack against it, with then President Bill Clinton asking Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to personally use his influence to prevail over the Taliban in averting the imminent strike, according to the declassified memorandum of the telephonic conversation made available by the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock, Arkansas

Assessing if Pak is serious about LoC truce: India
Says DGMOs are trying to find a way forward to end violations
KV Prasad/TNS

Moscow, October 20
India is trying to assess whether Pakistan is serious or not about restoring truce along the Line of Control. It also said it will give the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of the two countries a chance to end ceasefire violations before deciding its next strategy.

Sources in the government said following the decision arrived at after a meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistan counterpart Nawaz Sharif in New York last month, the two DGMOs are in touch.

"The two DGMOs are in touch and it is for them to find a way. Let both try and work a way forward and we will assess the situation whether there is seriousness on part of Pakistan side to respect and restore ceasefire," the sources said here.

There are reports that the DGMOs on either side are expected to meet soon to discuss the ceasefire violations. Sources said while it was natural at this time of the year to see a 'spike' in infiltration attempts, the government will analyse the data and see if there is a pattern to it. With winter about to set in, there are infiltration attempts from across the border.

According to data available, the number of incidents last year was slightly over 100. By the first week of October this year, the number of incidents have nearly doubled. "Certainly it is more than last year. We will analyse and draw conclusions about Pakistan behaviour'' the sources said.

However, the sources said there was no confirmation available of a possible meeting between the two DGMOs on Monday, as being reported by some newspapers in Pakistan.

LoC trouble

• There are reports that the DGMOs on either side are expected to meet soon to discuss the ceasefire violations
• According to data available, the number of incidents last year was slightly over 100. By the first week of October this year, the number of incidents have nearly doubled
• With winter about to set in, infiltration attempts from across the border are set to rise further