DATE=6/9/98
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
NUMBER=5-40634
TITLE=PAK KASHMIR PART ONE
BYLINE=MEREDITH BUEL
DATELINE=CHAKOTHI
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: NUCLEAR TESTS BY INDIA AND PAKISTAN ARE REFOCUSING
ATTENTION ON THE DISPUTED REGION OF KASHMIR, WHICH IS SEEN AS THE
MOST LIKELY FLASHPOINT FOR A MILITARY CONFRONTATION IN SOUTH
ASIA. INDIA AND PAKISTAN HAVE FOUGHT TWO WARS OVER KASHMIR AND
THEIR SOLDIERS FREQUENTLY FIRE AT EACH OTHER ACROSS A BOUNDARY
LINE SEPARATING THE TWO ARMIES. ISLAMABAD CORRESPONDENT MEREDITH
BUEL VISITED THE BORDER VILLAGE OF CHAKOTHI (CHA-COE-TEE) AND
FILED THIS REPORT FROM THE PAKISTAN SIDE OF THE DIVIDE.
TEXT: A PAKISTANI SOLDIER -- DRESSED IN CAMOUFLAGE FATIGUES WITH
AN AUTOMATIC WEAPON SLUNG OVER HIS SHOULDER -- PEERS OVER THE
WALL OF A CONCRETE BUNKER.
HIS BINOCULARS SWEEP FROM SIDE TO SIDE, WATCHING FOR INDIAN TROOP
MOVEMENTS ACROSS THE LINE OF CONTROL (L-O-C) -- THE BOUNDARY
SEPARATING INDIAN AND PAKISTANI KASHMIR.
A SHORT DISTANCE AWAY -- IN A CAMOUFLAGED FOXHOLE SURROUNDED BY
SAND BAGS -- ANOTHER SOLDIER PEERS DOWN THE BARREL OF A LARGE
MACHINE GUN. HIS FINGER IS ON THE TRIGGER. THESE SOLDIERS ARE
READY FOR WAR.
THIS IS THE SCENE ALONG THE MORE THAN 800-KILOMETER BOUNDARY
SLICING THROUGH KASHMIR.
HUNDREDS-OF-THOUSANDS OF SOLDIERS ARMED WITH ARTILLERY, MORTARS
AND MACHINE GUNS ARE FACING -- AND FREQUENTLY FIRING AT -- EACH
OTHER. IN PLACES THE TWO ARMIES ARE ONLY ONE-HUNDRED-METERS
APART.
BRIGADIER GENERAL HAIDER KHAN COMMANDS THE PAKISTANI ARMY ALONG
THIS SECTOR OF THE LINE OF CONTROL.
// KHAN ACT //
KHAN: THIS IS A TENSE AREA. IT IS AN AREA WHERE THOUSANDS AND
THOUSANDS OF TROOPS ARE SITTING EYEBALL TO EYEBALL. IT IS NOT
LIKE ANYWHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD.
REPORTER: IT IS A FLASHPOINT?
KHAN: IT COULD BE. IT DEPENDS. IF ANY SIDE TRIES AN ADVENTURE
AGAINST THE OTHER SIDE IT COULD VERY WELL BE A FLASHPOINT, YES.
// END ACT //
THE KASHMIR DISPUTE DATES BACK TO 1947 WHEN INDIA AND PAKISTAN
GAINED INDEPENDENCE FROM BRITAIN. AFTER FIGHTING TWO WARS OVER
KASHMIR, NEW DELHI CONTROLS TWO-THIRDS OF THE HIMALAYAN REGION
AND ISLAMABAD CONTROLS THE REST.
NOW THAT BOTH COUNTRIES HAVE TESTED NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND MISSILES
CAPABLE OF CARRYING NUCLEAR WARHEADS, THE KASHMIR DISPUTE IS
CATCHING THE ATTENTION OF WORLD LEADERS.
THREATS AND BELLIGERENT STATEMENTS FROM OFFICIALS IN NEW DELHI
AND ISLAMABAD ARE FLYING ACROSS THE BORDER LIKE GUNSHOTS --
RAISING FEARS THE ANIMOSITY MAY SPIN OUT OF CONTROL.
SINCE THE NUCLEAR TESTS GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS IN NEW DELHI ARE
SAYING THEY WILL TAKE A HARDER LINE IN DEALING WITH THE KASHMIR
DISPUTE.
GENERAL KHAN INDICATES PAKISTAN BELIEVES THE CHANCES FOR WAR ARE
ON THE RISE.
// KHAN ACT //
CAN THERE BE A WAR? THERE HAVE ALREADY BEEN THREE WARS. THE
NEW (INDIAN) LEADERSHIP THAT HAS COME IN IS ALSO THREATENING WAR.
SO IT REALLY DEPENDS. IT IS A STATE OF MIND OF THE NEW
LEADERSHIP ACROSS THE LINE OF CONTROL. IF THEY WANT TO GO TO WAR
THEY WILL PROBABLY START WORKING FOR IT, AND INDICATIONS ARE THEY
WOULD LIKE TO STIR UP TROUBLE.
// END ACT //
PAKISTAN SAYS THE DISPUTE SHOULD BE SETTLED BY A PLEBISCITE
SPONSORED BY THE UNITED NATIONS, WHILE NEW DELHI ARGUES KASHMIR
IS AN INTEGRAL PART OF INDIA.
PAKISTAN WELCOMES OFFERS BY THE UNITED NATIONS AND OTHER
COUNTRIES TO MEDIATE THE KASHMIR DISPUTE. INDIA REJECTS SUCH
MEDIATION SAYING KASHMIR IS A BI-LATERAL ISSUE.
THE LATEST CONFIDENCE-BUILDING TALKS BETWEEN ISLAMABAD AND NEW
DELHI ARE STALLED OVER KASHMIR.
GENERAL KHAN WELCOMES THE RENEWED ATTENTION WORLD LEADERS ARE
GIVING TO THE KASHMIR ISSUE.
// KHAN ACT //
ONE WAY OR THE OTHER THIS PROBLEM HAS TO BE SOLVED. THE WORLD
HAS NOW, ONCE AGAIN, BEEN SHAKEN UP TO IT, VERY VIOLENTLY AND I
THINK IT WILL HAVE AN AFFECT. THERE IS A LOT OF PRESSURE NOW FOR
THE INDIANS TO TALK ABOUT KASHMIR AND TO HAVE IT SOLVED.
// END ACT //
THE PRIME MINISTERS OF BOTH COUNTRIES SAY THEY ARE WILLING TO
DISCUSS KASHMIR BUT SUCH TALKS HAVE FAILED IN THE PAST.
MEANWHILE -- IN PAKISTANI KASHMIR -- DEFENSE COMMITTEES ARE BEING
ORGANIZED ALONG THE LINE OF CONTROL.
WEAPONS ARE BEING HANDED OUT TO CIVILIANS IN THE AREA AND ALERT
SOLDIERS CONTINUE TO MAN FOX-HOLES AND BUNKERS -- EYEBALL TO
EYEBALL -- IN KASHMIR. (SIGNED)
NEB/MB/RAE
09-Jun-98 8:33 AM EDT (1233 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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