DATE=5/4/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=PAKISTAN-INDIA (L-O)
NUMBER=2-261974
BYLINE=AYAZ GUL
DATELINE=ISLAMABAD
INTERNET=YES
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Pakistan is blaming Indian troops for starting
a new round of firing across a military control line
in the disputed Kashmir region. At least a dozen
people were reported Wednesday to have died in the
shelling between Indian and Pakistani forces in
Kashmir. From Islamabad, Ayaz Gul reports.
TEXT: A Pakistan foreign ministry spokesman, Tariq
Altaf, says the Indian attack is aimed at fueling
tensions in Kashmir.
// ALTAF ACT //
We have always pointed out that it is the
Indians who kill the innocent civilians and
raise tensions by firing across the L-O-C (cease
fire line in Kashmir) with the express purpose
of hurting the innocent civilians and raising
tensions on the L-O-C.
// END ACT //
But India blamed Pakistani troops for starting the
firing, which it says, killed at least six-people in
its part of Kashmir. New Delhi says the move aims to
provide cover for Muslim infiltrators crossing into
Indian Kashmir. India is fighting a Muslim insurgency
in the two-thirds of Kashmir it controls, and accuses
Pakistan of supporting the insurgents.
Islamabad denies the Indian charges and says it only
provides moral and political support to what it calls
- freedom fighters - in Kashmir.
Last week, Pakistan's military-ruler General Pervez
Musharraf said he wants to meet Indian Prime Minister
Atal Behari Vajpayee to discuss the Kashmir dispute.
But India says talks with Pakistan can be resumed only
after Islamabad stops what it calls - cross border
terrorism.
Pakistani spokesman Altaf rejects any preconditions
for the resumption of a dialogue:
// SECOND ALTAF ACT //
They (India) have laid down pre-conditions. We
will not hold talks with any pre-conditions.
// END ACT //
The latest clash in Kashmir is the worst since
President Clinton visited South Asia in March and
urged the two countries to resume talks to resolve
differences.
The Kashmir dispute has caused two wars between India
and Pakistan. The dispute pushed them to the brink of
a third war last summer, when Pakistani-backed
infiltrators seized strategic heights on the Indian
side of Kashmir. (SIGNED)
NEB/AG/RAE
04-May-2000 08:31 AM EDT (04-May-2000 1231 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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