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New Delhi, May 29 (ANI): External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh said on Wednesday Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf had already had enough time to crack down on militants and must recognise the urgency of the situation. "There is already enough time General Musharraf has had. It is vital that he recognises the urgency of the situation," Singh told reporters after talks with British foreign secretary Jack Straw. India on Tuesday said there could be neither peace talks nor any scaling down of its massive military buildup on the border until it sees clear evidence Pakistan has moved against the militants and closed down rebel camps in Kashmir. Pakistan has in recent days conducted three missile tests, described by boths sides as routine but which highlighted the dangers of the two armies on a hair-trigger alert. In an address to the nation on Monday, Musharraf urged India to open talks, but twinned his call with a warning Islamabad would meet any attack with "full might". Straw, who had talks with Musharraf in Islamabad on Tuesday, said after his talks in New Delhi a fight for freedom was no excuse for terrorism. "I believe that President Musharraf is serious but as I have said earlier the test of all these things has to be action and not just words. There is crucial imperative upon the leadership and the government of Pakistan to ensure that there is effective, continuous sealing of the Line of Control and an end to the supply of terrorists, freedom fighters, militants or what you will call who have been operating in Jammu and Kashmir," Straw told reporters at a joint press conference with Jaswant Singh. Straw began the second leg of his South Asian mission with a series of talks with key ministers and later also met Defence Minister George Fernandes in New Delhi. International anxiety over India and Pakistan is high. Australia and New Zealand urged their citizens to leave India and Pakistan. The United States and several other nations have already warned their nationals to stay away from the region. Meanwhile, Singh also said there were several ways to monitor if Musharraf was honouring a pledge to stop rebels slipping into Indian Kashmir, which would be studied "when the right climate is re- established". "There are many proposals in this regard. It would be unwise to prematurely put all those proposals on the table but at the appropriate time and when the right climate is re-established, they can all be considered as actionable items," he said. A million men are locked in a border standoff triggered by a December raid on Parliament New Delhi blamed on Pakistani-based militant outfits. The confrontation has stoked fear of war between the nuclear-armed neighbours. Neither side wants another war. They have fought three, two over Kashmir, since Britain partitioned its Indian empire into Islamic Pakistan and secular but mainly Hindu India in 1947. But analysts say there is a significant risk of a conflict if militants stage another significant attack that may force Vajpayee to strike back. The risk of war has set off alarm bells around the world, prompting a string of top level visits to the subcontinent.(ANI) Border build-up putting pressure on govt spending: Sinha
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to top Border build-up putting pressure on govt spending: Sinha New Delhi, May 29 (ANI): Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha said on Wednesday troop mobilisation on the border with Pakistan was putting pressure on government spending but it had already been factored in the 2002/03 budget. Sinha was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a conference of senior revenue officials in the capital. When asked whether troop deployment had put pressure on the country's expenditure, the finance minister said: "But troop deployment has been there since December." He, however, added that it was natural that such a deployment would affect the country's planned expenditure. "No, naturally there is," he said. "No, I am not in a position to give that estimate," Sinha said when asked about how much India had spent on troop mobilisation. Nuclear neighbours India and Pakistan have massed a million men along their borders in their latest row over contested Kashmir, since an attack on Parliament in December that New Delhi blamed on Pakistan-based Islamic militants. Sinha admitted that India's revenue collection has been affected by the activities of militant outfits operating in the region. He, however, expressed confidence that the coutry's revenue officials were up to the task. "Terrorist activities have continued in this country for some time now and that should not deter revenue officials," Sinha said. There are no immediate plans for withdrawal of troops from either side of the border. New Delhi, which blames Pakistan for perpetrating terrorism on its soil, has said that any recall of troops can only take place when Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf comes good on his promise of reining in militant outfits functioning within Pakistani territory. Pakistan denies that it helps militants operating in India and has blamed India for taking escalatory steps.(ANI)
People continue to flee J-K border villages Go to top Jammu, May 29 (ANI): As war clouds hover over the Indo-Pak border and heavy exchange of fire takes place unabatedly, people in the nearby villages flee their homes leaving behind their belongings. The displaced villagers, who have been facing an uneasy life for the past one decade, say one "final" war should take place once and for all. Village "Jaggad" was emptied within a few hours on Tuesday when it came under heavy shelling from Pakistani troops for the second consecutive day. Those who were caught unawares by the sudden exchange of fire ran for safety and took shelter in an army bunker. Terrified and confused, the villagers huddled together in the bunker waiting for the guns to stop booming. Ruby, a young girl, said, "It's been one hour since the firing began from Pakistani side. We all have emptied our houses, and are here in search of a safe place to hide". Sharad Ram, who has been a witness to two Indo-Pak wars, in 1965 and 1971, said shelling from across the border is more intense this time. He said, "Pakistani Army had been bombarding this area continuously for several days". As guns fell silent for a short period, the panic-stricken people decided to desert their village leaving behind their cattle. There were many who did not know where to go. Faced with an uncertain future, their immediate concern was to leave the village with their children, and run for life. Babli, a middle- aged woman, said, "it's better to go for a war than endure suffering for years". "We are facing a big problem. Our houses have fallen to explosions........children have escaped here and there. I cannot even take care of may aged parents.......there is no way out. They are our enemy. We feel let war take place once and for all. There is neither food nor water, nor electricity. So what is the use of living here anyway?" she said angrily. One Rattan Lal said it had become difficult for them to live in the village any more. "We are suffering very much. You are hearing this sound coming from Pakistani shelling.......we are living here in a miserable condition. Now, it's become impossible to live here," Lal said before he joined his family and neighbours to move out of the village. Several people have been killed and thousands of villagers fled their homes on both sides of the LoC after firing increased more than a week ago as tensions between the two countries mounted. India and Pakistan have deployed over a million men along the ceasefire line as the standoff between the two countries continues. (ANI)
UK against terrorism in all its forms: Jack Straw
Go to top New Delhi, May 29 (ANI): For both India and UK, terrorism carried the same sinister meaning and each country believed in the same method for tackling it, the British Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, said here on Wednesday. The Whitehall, he explained, follows the UN resolution 1373, which says the definition of terrorism includes cross-border terrorism, not excluding militants masquerading as freedom fighters. Kashmir, according to him, represented an issue of terrorism and he condemned the role of Pakistan in it. He was speaking to reporters after meeting Union Home Minister L.K. Advani. "I began my conversation with Advani by reiterating British Government's unambiguous views against terrorism in all its forms, including cross-border terrorism and the terrorism that is dressed up as freedom fighters," Straw affirmed. The conversation lasted more than one hour and was focussed on the question of Kashmir and the Indo-Pak tension. Straw arrived here on Tuesday evening from Islamabad and is slated to hold talks with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Defence Minister George Fernandes and External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh. Straw's visit to India and Pakistan re[presents a British initiative to defuse the stand-off between the two South Asian nuclear armed nations. (ANI)
Three bombs rock three buses in Ahmedabed
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top Ahmedabad, May 29 (ANI) At least three bombs exploded on Wednesday on three buses in the main city of Gujarat where almost a thousand people have been killed in the country's worst Hindu- Muslim violence. At least 11 people were injured in the blasts in the commercial hub of Ahmedabad just after the morning rush hour. Police found an unexploded bomb in a parked bus and two bomb disposal experts were hurt when they dismantled another device in a house during a security sweep. Officials of the anti-bomb department said the circuits recovered from the explosion site indicated the bombs used were made under expert supervision. "The bomb planted here was definitely made by some expert, someone who had complete knowledge about it. Also it was not made locally. It was made outside Ahmedabad," said Ashwin Padhiyar, a police sub-inspector of the bomb disposal squad. Preliminary investigations had earlier indicated that the bombs were crude devices attached to a timer. "The culprits had full knowledge about the timetable of the buses, the rush hour. Everything was very well planned," Padhiyar added. Nobody has claimed responsibility for the blasts. Security forces in the state are on high alert following the recent violence. Most of the victims of the religious clashes have been Muslims, killed by Hindu gangs in a rampage triggered when a Muslim mob attacked a train on February 27, burning alive 59 Hindus. The official death toll from weeks of religious bloodshed is almost one thousand. But human rights groups which have carried out independent investigations say at least 2,500 people died. Police and state government leaders have expressed fear angry Muslims could be drafted by Islamic rebels for revenge attacks. The religious violence was largely contained to Gujarat, but the potential dangers of a Muslim backlash have been compounded by India's military standoff with Pakistan over Kashmir. Both sides have massed a million men along their border since a December attack on Parliament that New Delhi blamed on Pakistan- based groups and analysts say another major militant attack anywhere in the country could trigger war.(ANI)
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