Pakistan and India plan opening of disputed Kashmir border for
Pakistan and India plan opening of disputed Kashmir border for
quake victims
Munir Ahmad
Associated Press/Muzaffarabad, Pakistan
Pakistan and India were making plans on Sunday to let earthquake
victims cross the disputed Kashmir border, bringing the nuclear-
armed rivals closer in the wake of a shared tragedy that killed
nearly 80,000 people on both sides of the heavily militarized
frontier.
Meanwhile, Gen. John Abizaid, chief of U.S. Central Command,
toured the destruction in Pakistan's half of the divided
Himalayan region and promised to "do whatever is possible to help
Pakistan." He said 15 more U.S. helicopters and more troops would
be arriving soon to support the relief effort.
"From the air I saw devastation everywhere. Naturally, I'm sad
but we will do as much as we can," he told reporters in the main
city of Muzaffarabad. The U.S. military has already deployed 17
helicopters and is also sending the Army's only Mobile Army
Surgical Hospital, or MASH unit.
The magnitude 7.6 Oct. 8 quake is believed to have killed at
least 79,000 people, mostly in Pakistan's portion of Kashmir.
About 1,360 died on the Indian side. More than 3 million are
homeless.
Pakistan proposed creating five border crossing points on
Saturday for Kashmiris to freely carry relief goods to either
side. India earlier offered to open aid camps for quake victims
on its side of Kashmir -- a region claimed in its entirety by
both countries and where they have fought two of their three
wars.
"It appears to us that the proposals made by Pakistan can be
reconciled with those that we ourselves had already made," Indian
Foreign Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna said in a statement in
New Delhi.
Any agreement to let Kashmiris cross the frontier -- long
regarded as one of world's most dangerous flashpoints -- would be
a clear sign of mounting trust between the longtime rivals who
began a peace process nearly two years ago to bury five decades
of hostility.
India's proposal came in apparent response to Pakistan
President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's repeated calls for Kashmiris to
be allowed to cross the so-called Line of Control to help each
other recover from the disaster.
Another earthquake on Sunday destroyed homes and killed five
people in Afghanistan's eastern Paktika province near the
Pakistan border, said Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman Zahir
Azimi. Army rescue teams were heading for the remote mountainous
area, he said.
Pakistan's Seismological Center said two quakes, the biggest
of magnitude 5.2, were registered near the border early on
Sunday.
Relief operations in Pakistan have taken on increasing
urgency, with the Himalayan winter closing in. The United Nations
on Sunday renewed a call for more relief funds from donor
countries.
"The lives of thousands are at risk and they urgently need our
help," said Rashid Kalikov, UN coordinator for humanitarian
assistance in Muzaffarabad.
He said 800,000 people in Kashmir had no shelter.
India has provided tons of relief goods for Pakistan, but
opening the border is particularly sensitive for New Delhi, which
has fenced and fortified the Line of Control to prevent
infiltration by Islamic militants who fight Indian security
forces, seeking Kashmir's independence or merger with Pakistan.