U.S. ignoring India's 'concerns on terrorism'<\/p>\n
NEW DELHI (Agencies): India on Friday openly criticized the
\nUnited States for ignoring its concerns on terrorism a week after
\noffering Washington \"unstinted support\" in its campaign to fight
\nthe menace.<\/p>\n
In an interview to The Times of India, Prime Minister Atal
\nBehari Vajpayee said: \"No statements have emanated from
\nWashington to suggest that the US, though appreciative of India's
\noffer to support its war against terrorism, was in a mood to
\nfocus on India's bitter experience of terrorist activities on its
\nsoil.\"<\/p>\n
An armed Muslim insurgency in Indian-administered Kashmir has
\nclaimed more than 35,000 lives since 1989.<\/p>\n
India accuses Pakistan of training, arming and funding Islamic
\nmilitant groups operating in Kashmir. Islamabad refutes the
\ncharge, saying it offers only moral and diplomatic support to the
\nrebels.<\/p>\n
India tightened security both within the country and along its
\nborders on Friday amid a growing sense of foreboding about the
\npotential fallout of the crisis in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n
Defense officials said troops were on alert along the border
\nwith Pakistan in the northern states of Punjab and Rajasthan,
\nwhile even in the northeast near Bangladesh police were hunting
\nout militants to head off any unrest.<\/p>\n
One Indian defense official reported a build-up of troops on
\nthe Pakistani side of the border in Punjab, though in Pakistan, a
\nmilitary spokesman said there were no troop movements and no
\nchange on its international borders with India.<\/p>\n
Officials said late on Thursday that police had arrested five
\nactivists from a Muslim student organization in the northern
\nstate of Uttar Pradesh for promoting communal unrest.<\/p>\n
Commenting on Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's charge
\nthat India was seeking to exploit the situation to damage
\nIslamabad's interests, Vajpayee said \"the allegations were along
\nexpected lines.\"<\/p>\n
\"What concerns him (Musharraf) is not terrorism. It is
\nKashmir.<\/p>\n
\"How can he be concerned about terrorism? He has promoted it.\"<\/p>\n
The premier's strongly worded comments did not evoke any
\nsurprise from analysts in New Delhi.<\/p>\n
Another former foreign secretary, S.K. Singh, described
\nVajpayee's statements on Pakistan as \"accurate and precise.\"<\/p>\n
\"Musharraf's attitude towards India is always conditioned by
\nKashmir. So what the prime minister said is very correct,\" Singh
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"Vajpayee was serving notice to Islamabad that if they go
\nabusive, the India-Pakistan dialogue will be impeded.\"<\/p>\n
In his interview, Vajpayee also alleged the United States had
\nnot declared Pakistan a terrorist state, a longstanding demand by
\nNew Delhi, because \"it has not seen terrorism in this part of the
\nworld in the correct perspective.\"<\/p>\n
\"It is for America to decide whether terrorism is a global
\nphenomenon or whether it is restricted to just one individual,\"
\nVajpayee said, referring to the US campaign to catch Saudi
\ndissident Osama bin Laden, prime suspect in the attacks that
\nkilled more than 6,300 in the United States.<\/p>\n
\"America alone can determine whether it will address the
\nsymptom of terrorism or the system of terrorism,\" Vajpayee was
\nquoted as saying.<\/p>\n
\"America will have to look at the sanctuaries provided to
\nterrorists, at the training camps, at the arms and the money
\nflowing into the hands of the terrorists if it wants to get rid
\nof terrorism, root and branch.\"<\/p>\n
According to Kanti Bajpai, a professor at New Delhi's
\nJawaharlal Nehru University, India's offer of assistance to
\nWashington came \"too fast, too unconditionally.\"<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/us-ignoring-indias-concerns-on-terrorism-1447893297",
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