May 24, 2002	Friday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 11,1423

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LAHORE, May 23: Former army chief Gen Mirza Aslam Beg thinks that there is no possibility of a war between Pakistan and India on the international borders as its consequences will be disastrous for both the countries. However, he says, India has made all preparations for a heavy attack on a few places on the Line of Control (LoC) “to threaten some of the sensitive areas and create an embarrassing and difficult situation for Pakistan”.

Talking to Dawn on Thursday, he said insistence by India that Pakistan should stop what it calls cross-border terrorism was something beyond the latter’s capability as those involved in it, if any, were not under Pakistan’s control. He said if people were still crossing the LoC despite the ban by Pakistan government on about half a dozen Mujahideen organizations, it manifested that whatever was happening in occupied Kashmir did not have the backing of the Pakistan government.

Making a precondition which Pakistan was unable to meet, the former COAS said, clearly meant that India was determined to go for a war and cause as much damage to Pakistan as possible.

In his opinion, India had also a nod from the United States as the two countries had already signed an agreement under which the US was to extend support to India in extirpating terrorism from occupied Kashmir.

Asked how serious the US and UK were in restraining India from a war with Pakistan, Gen Beg said the two countries only wanted that there was no war on the international border. But, he said, this did not mean that there would be no war on the LoC.

In the present situation, he said, it was incumbent upon Pakistan to make full preparations to counter the possible Indian attack. He was of the view that a war on the LoC would create an explosive situation providing the Mujahideen with an opportunity to step up their activities.

Gen Beg said by continuing its shelling on areas of Sialkot and Shakargarh, India had already committed aggression against Pakistan after which the latter had the right to retaliate.

Pakistan, the former COAS said, should send a warning to India that in case it targeted these areas again, it would have the right to launch a counter attack. “Tolerating aggression on Pakistan’s territory will not be advisable”.

To be able to effectively face the challenge thrown by India, Gen Beg said the government should create harmony between the domestic politics, defence and diplomacy. This, he regretted, was non-existent at present. He said to get support from political parties, the government should go for some quid-pro-quo. Political leaders now in exile should be allowed to come back to face cases against them. Those under arrest should be released as a mark of goodwill gesture, he said.

In his assessment, in the present situation Pakistan could not expect anything from Afghanistan because of the changes in the war-shattered country. Iran would not like to go beyond supportive words. Islamic countries could be of little help to Pakistan as they had also failed to do something for the suffering Palestinians. China was the only country Pakistan could depend upon for help, Gen Beg said.

He said Pakistan should approach the European Union and the United States. But defence of the country would depend mainly on the support the government got from the nation. He said the absence of an elected government was the biggest weakness of Pakistan.

Gen Naseer Akhtar, a former corps commander who is also a member of the Indo-Pakistan Soldiers Forum for Peace Initiative, said deployment of troops by both sides meant that the threat of war was imminent.

But, he said, there was no possibility of India going for an attack on Pakistan. Had it been harbouring such designs, it would have done so shortly after the Dec 13 attack on its parliament.

Gen Akhtar said India did not want to attack Pakistan. Instead, it wanted to plug all routes which militants used to infiltrate into occupied Kashmir and once this was done, the freedom movement would come to an end.

He said if India launched even a small offensive in Kashmir, it could escalate into an all-out war on the international border. He said he did not think this would happen.

Gen Naseer Akhtar said the Indian prime minister wanted to bring an end to militancy to be able to hold “peaceful elections” in occupied Kashmir and give the world an impression that the Kashmiris wanted to stay with India.

In his opinion, Pakistan should try to resolve the crisis through diplomatic means so that the freedom movement did not receive a setback at any stage.”We should hold a dialogue with India and pick up the thread from where it was left in Agra”.

The former corps commander said the Indian prime minister wanted to exploit the crisis to bolster the groggy coalition he was heading at present, and weaken Pakistan’s economy without going for a war.

Pakistan, he said, should launch a major diplomatic offensive to force India to withdraw its troops and start a dialogue with Pakistan.

Gen Akhtar said the nation should never feel that the Pakistan army was weak or unable to defend the country. He said the army had strengthened itself substantially after the 1971 tragedy. Then, he said, the army had got sufficient time to integrate and intermesh its war plans after Dec 13 incident. “There is no question of India getting any advantage, it will have to come to the negotiating table”.