DATE=8/13/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=INDIA PAKISTAN DISPUTE FR. (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-252753
BYLINE=JIM TEEPLE
DATELINE=NEW DELHI
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Tensions remain high along the India-Pakistan
border, with forces from both countries on high alert
following two days of air clashes, earlier this week.
V-O-A's Jim Teeple reports from New Delhi -- despite
appeals from the United States and other nations --
India and Pakistan have not said whether they will
abide by a 1991 agreement which was designed to
prevent air conflicts from developing.
Text: Pakistan and India remain locked in a
diplomatic standoff, with their militaries on high
alert. Each country accuses the other of starting
the latest crisis, which began on Tuesday after Indian
jet fighters shot down a Pakistani aerial
reconnaissance plane which India says was on a spy
mission, ten kilometers inside its southern border
with Pakistan.
Pakistan denies the charge, but does admit to firing
at least one missile at Indian jet fighters Wednesday.
The fighters were escorting Indian military
helicopters carrying journalists to the area where the
Pakistani plane was shot down. India has lodged
diplomatic protests with Pakistan over both incidents,
Indian officials say -- although they want a dialogue
with Pakistan -- they will not tolerate what it
describes as provocations.
Both incidents occurred just weeks after the two
nuclear powers came close to all-out war over Kashmir.
The 11-week Kashmir crisis ended after Pakistan agreed
to work to withdraw forces from mountain peaks on the
Indian side of the Kashmir border, while denying that
its forces were involved in the incursion.
Indian officials say their downing of the Pakistani
plane is simply a measured response to a military
provocation and does signify a tougher response to
Pakistani incursions into Indian territory. Raminder
Jassal the spokesman for India's Foreign Ministry says
India's military responds consistently whether in
Kashmir or in the air above its southern border.
// Jassal act //
I think we should see these things in their correct
perspective and proper proportion and in their proper
context. There was, as you know, an intrusion, which
Pakistan had undertaken in the Kargil region of
Kashmir. Well, we used the correct amount of military
force that was required in order to vacate that
aggression. In this case (the plane downing) we've
had an intrusion deep inside Indian air space. The
Indian Air Force scrambled and engaged the intruder
and after giving it every opportunity to land and
comply with signals that were being given to it the
Indian Air Force was constrained to shoot it down. So
I think we should look at these things in their proper
context.
// end act //
In Washington, State Department Spokesman James Rubin
says both countries should exercise restraint and
agree to adhere to a 1991 agreement. It requires
combat aircraft to stay 10 kilometers away from the
border. In recent days, both countries have
criticized each other for violating the agreement but
so far neither country will say whether it is
currently abiding by it. (Signed)
NEB / JLT / wd
13-Aug-1999 05:13 AM LOC (13-Aug-1999 0913 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
