DATE=8/1/98
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
NUMBER=2-236374
TITLE=PAK INDIA KASHMIR (L-ONLY)
BYLINE=ALI ZAIDI
DATELINE=ISLAMABAD
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: PAKISTAN HAS ACCUSED INDIA OF SABOTAGING EFFORTS TO
RESTART A DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES, BY INTENSIFYING
MILITARY EXCHANGES ON THE DISPUTED KASHMIR BORDER. AS ALI ZAIDI
REPORTS FROM ISLAMABAD -- TENSIONS ARE HIGH AFTER FOUR DAYS OF
FIGHTING WHICH LEFT AS MANY AS 65 PEOPLE DEAD AND DOZENS MORE
INJURED.
TEXT: PAKISTAN'S MINISTER FOR KASHMIR AFFAIRS -- ABDUL MAJEED
MALIK -- IS WARNING THE SITUATION IN THE HIMALAYAN STATE OF
KASHMIR COULD SPIN OUT OF CONTROL.
AT A NEWS CONFERENCE SATURDAY, MR. MALIK SAID AT LEAST 43 PEOPLE
-- MOST OF THEM CIVILIANS -- HAVE BEEN KILLED IN THE PAKISTANI
CONTROLLED PART OF KASHMIR AS A RESULT OF INDIAN TROOPS FIRING
ACROSS THE BORDER. INDIA SAYS 22 PEOPLE HAVE DIED ON ITS SIDE IN
THE ARTILLERY AND MORTAR EXCHANGES.
BOTH COUNTRIES ACCUSE EACH OTHER'S FORCES OF INITIATING
HOSTILITIES AND INDISCRIMINATELY TARGETING CIVILIAN POPULATIONS.
LOW-LEVEL CLASHES ARE ROUTINE ON THIS DISPUTED BORDER. THE
INTENSIFIED CLASHES -- SOME OF THE WORST SINCE PAKISTAN AND INDIA
LAST WENT TO WAR IN 1971 -- CAME EVEN AS THE PRIME MINISTERS OF
BOTH COUNTRIES MET IN NEIGHBORING SRI LANKA AND TRIED TO RESUME
THEIR STALLED PEACE DIALOGUE.
MR. MALIK SAYS THE FIGHTING IS NOT NECESSARILY HEADING TOWARD ALL
OUT WAR, BUT THAT THE SITUATION IS SERIOUS. PAKISTANI OFFICIALS
SATURDAY ACCUSED INDIA OF STEPPING UP THE MILITARY BARRAGE TO
DELIBERATELY SABOTAGE THE EFFORTS FOR DIALOGUE.
BOTH SIDES SAY THE INITIATIVE FOR TALKS IN SRI LANKA FAILED
BECAUSE OF INFLEXIBILITY BY THE OTHER SIDE.
PAKISTAN INSISTS ANY PEACE TALKS WITH INDIA MUST TREAT KASHMIR AS
A PRIORITY AND SUGGEST THIRD PARTY MEDIATION IS LOOKING
INCREASINGLY NECESSARY. INDIA REJECTS OUTSIDE INVOLVEMENT IN WHAT
IT SEES AS A BILATERAL MATTER, AND IS UNWILLING TO PUT KASHMIR
ABOVE OTHER ISSUES SUCH AS TRADE AND TRAVEL NORMALIZATION.
/// REST OPT ///
PAKISTAN AND INDIA HAVE FOUGHT TWO OF THEIR THREE WARS OVER
KASHMIR. INDIA CONTROLS TWO THIRDS OF THE TERRITORY, WHILE
PAKISTAN HOLDS THE REST. PAKISTAN DENIES INDIAN ACCUSATIONS THAT
IT IS AIDING A MILITANT UPRISING AGAINST NEW DELHI IN INDIAN
CONTROLLED KASHMIR.
THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY HAS BEEN URGING NEW DELHI AND
ISLAMABAD TO SORT OUT THEIR DIFFERENCES IN THE WAKE OF NUCLEAR
TESTS BY BOTH COUNTRIES.
ANALYSTS FEAR THE DISPUTE OVER KASHMIR COULD BECOME THE
FLASHPOINT OF A POSSIBLE NUCLEAR CONFRONTATION. THERE IS ALSO
CONCERN THAT PAKISTAN AND INDIA -- WITH 50 YEARS OF MISTRUST
BETWEEN THEM -- DO NOT HAVE A SOPHISTICATED ENOUGH COMMUNICATION
SYSTEM TO PREVENT THE ACCIDENTAL TRIGGERING OF LARGE-SCALE
HOSTILITIES.
PAKISTANI OFFICIALS SAY THERE HAS BEEN REPEATED CONTACT OVER A
HOTLINE BETWEEN MILITARY AUTHORITIES ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BORDER
SINCE CLASHES BECAME MORE INTENSE THIS WEEK, BUT SO FAR THERE HAS
BEEN NO LET UP IN THE FIGHTING. (SIGNED)
NEB/AZ/TMD/JO
01-Aug-98 9:14 AM EDT (1314 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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