DATE=6/14/99
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
NUMBER=2-250618
TITLE=INDIA / KASHMIR / PAK (L)
BYLINE=JIM TEEPLE
DATELINE=NEW DELHI
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: INDIAN ARMY TROOPS AND INDIAN AIR FORCE JETS CONTINUED
ATTACKS MONDAY AGAINST POSITIONS OCCUPIED BY WHAT INDIA DESCRIBES
AS INFILTRATORS BACKED BY PAKISTAN. FIERCE HAND-TO-HAND COMBAT
IS REPORTED ON MOUNTAIN BATTLEFIELDS BY INDIAN COMMANDERS WHO SAY
THEY CAPTURED MORE TERRITORY ON MONDAY. VOA'S JIM TEEPLE REPORTS
INDIAN COMMANDERS SAY HEAVY SHELLING ON MONDAY DOES NOT MEAN
THEY PLAN TO CROSS THE BORDER INTO PAKISTAN.
TEXT: INDIAN COMMANDERS SAY THEIR TROOPS HAVE NOW ADVANCED
BEYOND TOLOLING PEAK WHICH THEY CAPTURED ON SUNDAY. THE PEAK
OVERLOOKS THE MAIN EAST-WEST HIGHWAY IN KASHMIR.
HAND-TO-HAND COMBAT AT ALTITUDES OF FIVE-THOUSAND METERS IS
TAKING ITS TOLL. INDIA NOW SAYS IT HAS OFFICIALLY LOST MORE THAN
100 MEN WHILE SAYING NEARLY 300 GUERRILLAS HAVE BEEN KILLED.
ARTILLERY SHELLING FROM BOTH SIDES OF THE KASHMIR BORDER
INTENSIFIED ON MONDAY. INDIAN AUTHORITIES SAY ABOUT TEN THOUSAND
PEOPLE HAVE BEEN FORCED TO FLEE THEIR HOMES IN THE JAMMU REGION
OF KASHMIR WHICH IS ABOUT 300 KILOMETERS SOUTH OF WHERE THE
INDIAN ARMY IS BATTLING THE GUERRILLAS.
PAKISTAN SAYS SOME OF THE INDIAN SHELLS LANDING ON ITS SIDE OF
THE BORDER COULD BE CARRYING CHEMICAL WEAPONS. ON MONDAY INDIA'S
FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN RAMINDER JASSAL CALLED THE PAKISTANI
ACCUSATION ABSURD.
// INSERT JASSAL ACTUALITY //
THE INDIAN ARMY DOES NOT USE CHEMICAL WEAPONS. I
WOULD ALSO LIKE TO EMPHASIZE THAT INDIA IS ONE OF THE
FOUNDER MEMBERS OF THE CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION, AND
WE ARE A COUNTRY THAT IS KNOWN TO LIVE UP VERY SERIOUSLY
TO ALL ITS INTERNATIONAL OBLIGATIONS.
// END ACTUALITY //
INDIAN COMMANDERS SAY THEIR ARTILLERY SHELLING IN THE JAMMU
REGION OF KASHMIR IS IN RESPONSE TO SHELLING FROM PAKISTAN AND
DOES NOT MEAN THEY WILL CROSS THE LINE OF CONTROL -- WHICH
DIVIDES KASHMIR -- AND ATTACK PAKISTAN.
THE INCREASED SHELLING IN THE JAMMU REGION COMES JUST TWO DAYS
AFTER THE FOREIGN MINISTERS OF INDIA AND PAKISTAN ENDED TALKS IN
NEW DELHI WITHOUT ANY AGREEMENT ON HOW TO END THE CRISIS.
// REST OPT // INDIA SAYS IF A DIALOGUE IS TO TAKE PLACE,
PAKISTAN MUST AGREE TO WITHDRAW WHAT INDIA DESCRIBES AS
"INFILTRATORS" FROM INDIAN TERRITORY AND RESPECT THE BOUNDARIES
OF THE LINE OF CONTROL. PAKISTAN DENIES THAT IT OFFERS WHAT IT
DESCRIBES AS KASHMIRI FREEDOM FIGHTERS ANYTHING MORE THAN MORAL
AND DIPLOMATIC SUPPORT.
RAMINDER JASSAL OF INDIA'S FOREIGN MINISTRY SAYS INDIA WILL NOT
CROSS THE LINE OF CONTROL INTO PAKISTAN BECAUSE IT RESPECTS THE
1972 TREATY WHICH CREATED IT.
// JASSAL ACT //
WE HAVE ALWAYS RESPECTED THE LINE OF CONTROL AS WE HAVE
ALWAYS RESPECTED AND LIVED UP TO TO OUR INTERNATIONAL
OBLIGATIONS FLOWING FROM SOLEMN BILATERAL AGREEMENTS.
WE HAVE NOT VIOLATED THE LINE OF CONTROL, WE HAVE NEVER
DONE THAT, WE HAVE ALWAYS RESPECTED IT.
// END ACT //
MEANWHILE, INDIA'S FOREIGN MINISTER, JASWANT SINGH, MET WITH
CHINA'S FOREIGN MINISTER IN BEIJING ON MONDAY. MR. SINGH SAYS
THE TALKS ARE BILATERAL IN NATURE BUT REGIONAL ISSUES OF CONCERN
WILL ALSO BE DISCUSSED. MR. SINGH'S TRIP FOLLOWS A VISIT TO
BEIJING LAST WEEK BY PAKISTAN'S FOREIGN MINISTER SARTAJ AZIZ.
(SIGNED)
NEB/JLT/LTD/KL
14-Jun-99 10:35 AM EDT (1435 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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