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NEW DELHI, May 22: Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on Wednesday told Indian soldiers confronting Pakistani forces across the Line of Control (LoC) that the time had come for a ‘decisive fight’.
Although he did not spell out who the fight would be against, he said his visit to frontline troops at a time of high tension with Pakistan should be seen as a signal.
“Whether our neighbour understands this signal or not, whether the world takes account of it or not, history will be witness to this. We shall write a new chapter of victory,” he told soldiers in Kupwara, in occupied Kashmir.
“Let’s work for victory. Be prepared for sacrifices. But our aim should be victory. Because it’s now time for a decisive fight.”
WARSHIPS MOVE: Meanwhile, a defence official said India’s navy is reinforcing its western fleet in the Arabian Sea with five warships from the eastern fleet.
“The warships have been moved to increase the level of preparedness on the western sector, keeping in view the nation’s security concerns and the operational situation,” a navy spokesman said.
The spokesman said the ships — a destroyer, a frigate and three missile corvettes — would reach the west within a week.
The western fleet is based in Mumbai and its operational area covers the Arabian Sea and the rest of the Indian Ocean. The navy has a total of 140 ships.
Pakistani and Indian troops sides have exchanged heavy mortar and machinegun fire across the LoC since Friday, forcing hundreds of villagers to move to safety.
Officials have reported 10 deaths in the past two days, including a girl in Azad Kashmir who was killed by Indian gunners on Wednesday.
Tuesday’s killing of Kashmiri leader Abdul Gani Lone in Srinagar was expected to overshadow Vajpayee’s three-day visit to the held state.
GLOBAL CONCERN: International concern over the threat of war has also been mounting and European Union’s External Affairs Commissioner, Chris Patten, said on Wednesday he would push the two countries to work together to fight terrorism and defuse their stand-off.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, due to visit the region next week, also urged the international community to act to defuse the crisis.
“The possibility of war between India and Pakistan is real and very disturbing,” Straw said in London. “This is a crisis the world cannot ignore.”
Patten told a news conference in Islamabad that the neighbours should work together to stop terrorism. “One of the things to which I will be drawing attention to repeatedly is the Security Council Resolution 1373 which Pakistan has signed and every European Union country has signed,” he said.
Resolution 1373, adopted last year after the Sept 11 attacks on the United States, calls on countries to work together to stamp out terrorist acts.
“I will be drawing attention to a relationship between that Security Council resolution and the current situation.”—Reuters
