- NEW DELHI (UPI) - India's
defense minister, George Fernandes, on Thursday described the situation
on the India-Pakistan border as "grave," and said the deployment
of troops along the border will be completed in two to three days.
-
- Fernandes said that despite the troop deployment, India
will wait for any "positive result" in placing diplomatic
pressure
on Islamabad to rein in Pakistan-based Islamic rebel groups, Press Trust
of India reported.
-
- "In the next two to three days, the deployment
process
will be completed and the forces will be ready for any eventuality. But
there are diplomatic efforts which should be allowed to reach some
conclusion,"
he told reporters after returning from his three-day trip to border areas
in Kashmir.
-
- India's Cabinet Committee on Security is currently
meeting
to outline the next course of action against Pakistan.
-
- "At the moment India pays great emphasis on its
diplomatic efforts. We are still awaiting some positive results,"
Fernandes said.
-
- Meanwhile, news reports say that Islamabad has put all
its airports on high alert and installed anti-aircraft guns.
-
- In case of war, the Pakistan Air Force will take charge
of all civilian airports, said the Pakistani daily The News. Pakistan's
Navy has also started aerial monitoring of coastal areas.
-
- Pakistan on Thursday banned two Islamic rebel outfits
named by India for a terrorist attack on the Indian parliament Dec.
13.
-
- India blames Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-I-Mohammed for
the raid that left 14 people dead, including all five attackers.
-
- Islamabad's move followed a decision by the U.S. State
Department Wednesday to add both Lashkar and Jaish to its official
terrorists
list.
-
- It is not clear if Pakistan's latest action can reduce
the tension with India as the nuclear rivals neighbors appear to be on
the brink of a military conflict.
-
- Troops on either side of the border are on high alert
and missiles are in position. Intermittent firing from both sides has been
going on for several days in Kashmir.
-
- India has already recalled its ambassador to Islamabad.
Pakistan has urged India to act responsibly to avoid an outright
conflict.
-
- "Indian leaders are generating a war hysteria
because
of domestic compulsions," Anwar Mahmood, Pakistan's information
secretary,
said in Islamabad.
-
- Copyright © 2001 United Press International
|
