India may extend truce if Pakistan cooperates: PM
India may extend truce if Pakistan cooperates: PM
NEW DELHI (Agencies): India's prime minister said on Monday
his country's cease-fire in Kashmir could continue after the
Islamic holy month of Ramadhan if Pakistan created the right
conditions, Press Trust of India (PTI) reported.
The news agency also quoted Atal Behari Vajpayee as saying
that a decision on whether to extend the suspension of combat
operations against militants in the disputed Himalayan territory
would depend on the "reality" on the ground.
"...Vajpayee today said the Ramadhan cease-fire could be
extended if Pakistan cooperated and created a conducive
atmosphere," PTI said.
Pakistan responded to India's month-long initiative by
announcing at the weekend it would observe "maximum restraint" on
the Kashmir boundary to "strengthen and stabilize the cease-
fire".
Vajpayee, speaking at a reception hosted by India's navy
chief, said the offer of restraint at the Line of Control was
good, but Pakistan should go further.
"They know what has to be done," United News of India reported
him as saying. "Cross-border terrorism and violence has to stop.
They have to adopt a friendly attitude."
New Delhi accuses Islamabad of sponsoring the decade-old
insurgency against Indian rule in Jammu and Kashmir state, which
has claimed more than 30,000 lives.
Islamabad says it provides only moral and diplomatic support
to the Kashmiri people's struggle for self-determination.
Meanwhile, Muslim militants staged a deadly landmine blast in
Kashmir on Monday, on the seventh day of the cease-fire, killing
two people, injuring 21 and destroying three vehicles, Indian
police said.
A police official said separatist rebels targeted an army
convoy at Shilpipura Mandir, near the town of Khanpura, about 58
kilometers (36 miles) north of the state summer capital Srinagar.
"The blast took place at around 12:30 pm (0700 GMT). Its
impact was tremendous and it could be heard around a radius of
three kilometers," he said.
One soldier and a civilian were killed in the explosion, the
official said, adding that 18 other military personnel and three
civilians were wounded. One soldier was in critical condition.
Two army buses and a jeep were damaged in the explosion,
police said.
The police official said a security cordon was set up around
the area and a number of local residents were rounded up for
questioning.
Kashmir's leading Hizbul Mujahideen separatist outfit, which
rejected the Indian cease-fire announced for the holy month of
Ramadhan and vowed to step up attacks during the period, claimed
responsibility.
Hizbul spokesman Salim Hashmi told AFP over the telephone: "We
used a six-kilogram (13.2-pound) explosive landmine to blast
three army vehicles in which 10 Indian soldiers have been killed
and 15 injured.
"Our militants managed to reach back to their hideouts
successfully."
The police official said a security cordon was set up around
the area and a number of local residents were rounded up for
questioning.
Witnesses said shopkeepers immediately downed their shutters
after the blast as enraged soldiers started indiscriminate fire.
Suspected Kashmiri militants killed one person and injured 10
others in scattered attacks on Sunday, as troops scaled down
security following an Indian cease-fire, which came into force on
Nov. 27 at midnight to coincide with the beginning of Ramadhan.
The first week of cease-fire has seen at least one incident of
militant violence a day across Kashmir. But political observers
feel that violence has been less than in earlier months.