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| India says not in war mood but Pak troop build up continues | | |
ET DESK
Jammu, Dec 27: India is reported to have informed Pakistan that it was not preparing for war and there is not military build up along International Borders. However, reports pouring in indicate that Pakistan is engaged in a massive build up along the borders even as its President Asif Ali Zardari today underlined the peace urge.
New Delhi has also told Islamabad that it has no plans for a military action, but wanted a combination of "executive action and judicial processes" against terrorist elements like the Lashker-e-Taiba and its front organisation Jamaat-ud-Dawah, which have been linked to the Mumbai attacks.
This message was conveyed during Indian High Commissioner Satyabrata Pal's meeting with Pakistan's Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir here on Friday. Indian Deputy High Commissioner Manpreet Vohra was also present; agencies reported quoting diplomatic sources in Islamabad.
The Pakistani side said any surgical strike by India in response to the Mumbai terror attacks would be seen as an "act of war". To this, the Indian officials stated that there was "no reason for the war hysteria" being witnessed in Pakistan, the sources said.
The Indian officials made it clear that there had been no build-up of troops along the Pakistan frontier and that New Delhi had no plans for military action, the sources said.
The Indian side also conveyed the message that "words and commitments" were not adequate in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks, which were "just a symptom of the larger problem" of terrorists operating from the Pakistani soil, the sources said.
"There is a need for firm action against such elements. We don't see the shutting down of terrorist camps. Armed militants with guns are still moving around and terrorist camps are still operational," a source said.
The sources said India wanted a combination of "executive action and judicial processes" against terrorist elements like the LeT and JuD.
Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma asserted that Pakistan needed to launch proceedings against terrorism as India had already given it the needed evidence.
Meanwhile, reports coming in from Chandigarh said that Pakistan has stepped up its war moves by cancelling all military leave, sharply increasing deployment of its troops along the border adjoining Punjab and Jammu, and building new bunkers along the border near Barmer, Jaisalmer and Ganganagar. Highly placed sources said Pakistan has shifted its 4 Corps, an important strike arm, to Lahore, just 25 km from Attari. Its 10th brigade, consisting of around 5,000 personnel, has further been moved to forward areas along Punjab. Similarly its 3rd Armoured Brigade has been moved towards Jhelum.
At the same time, the Pakistan army was making war preparations with old bunkers on the borders being renovated and new ones being constructed. "The new bunkers are being constructed mostly along the borders near Barmer, Jaisalmer and Ganganagar and construction materials can also be seen at several places," said intelligence sources.
Sources revealed that Pakistan army has deployed its 10th Division at Ichogul Canal border area near Jammu and its 11th Division in the Tilla firing range, again bordering Punjab. These troops, said Indian Army sources on Friday, are around 10 km behind the international border. As per the Geneva Convention, no country can deploy its troops in such heavy numbers within 3-4 km of the international border unless war is declared formally. They can, however, conduct routine patrolling along the border.
With such heavy deployment of troops by Pakistan, Punjab has emerged as a vulnerable state as it shares a 553 km border with Pakistan. Further, sources said Punjab is strategically very important for Pakistan as the formation of its army is extremely strong in this area.
India's 2nd Corps from Ambala and 10 Corps from Bathinda have also moved to border areas for what an Army spokesperson described as annual exercises. This comes even as 11 Corps from Jalandhar has already moved for the exercise.
Sources said BSF ground commanders have sent a report to the Union government giving details of the movement by Pakistan troops along border areas. Sources said the report also contains ascertained figures of Pakistani deployments and the kind of weaponry carried by that country's forces.
Himmat Singh, IG (Punjab border) BSF, refused to divulge information about the report sent to the Centre, which sources said was discussed during the meeting of chief of staffs with PM Manmohan Singh in Delhi on Friday.
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