- Karachi, Dec 30 (IANS) Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf
said Monday any conflict with India during their tense border standoff
would not have been limited to a "conventional war".
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- "I used to say to all the world leaders who visited
us to ease tension between India and Pakistan to convey my message to (Indian)
Prime Minister (Atal Bihari) Vajpayee that if Indian forces took even a
single step to cross the Line Of Control or the international border, it
would not be restricted to conventional war. We would rather besiege the
Indian forces from the four sides and defeat them," Online news agency
quoted Musharraf as saying.
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- "Our enemy thought that it would cow us down by
deploying its army on our borders but it was its wishful thinking. Our
armed forces were fully ready to respond with full forces," Musharraf
maintained while addressing personnel of the Air Defence Corps here.
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- India and Pakistan had deployed close to a million troops
on their winding border following the December 13, 2001, terrorist attack
on the Indian Parliament that New Delhi blamed on terror groups supported
by Islamabad. India ordered a unilateral de-escalation in October.
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- Musharraf said the Indian Army had almost pulled back
to its peacetime locations and the Pakistan Army was engaged in a similar
exercise.
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- He maintained his government would not compromise on
Kashmir despite extreme military and diplomatic pressure.
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- Musharraf hoped the new government at the centre and
in the provinces would complete their five-year terms and would work to
create political harmony in the country.
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