Frontline Pakistan : The Struggle With Militant Islam - Arz-e-Pak
Frontline Pakistan : The Struggle With Militant Islam - Arz-e-Pak
Frontline Pakistan : The Struggle With Militant Islam - Arz-e-Pak
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Kashmir<br />
braced for a possible war. 16<br />
A series of suicide attacks by militants on a bus and in the residential<br />
quarters of an Indian army camp in Kaluchak in Kashmir on 14 May<br />
2002 killed 35 people, mainly women and children, and brought the<br />
region closer to the nuclear precipice. Free of <strong>Islam</strong>abad’s control,<br />
the militants had tried to push the two countries towards a military<br />
conflict. India quickly moved its forces to forward positions on war<br />
alert. It also expelled <strong><strong>Pak</strong>istan</strong>’s ambassador, closing the last line<br />
of direct communication with <strong>Islam</strong>abad. <strong>With</strong> missiles and heavy<br />
weapons in place, an Indian attack appeared imminent between<br />
29 and 31 May. 17 Nuclear signalling from both sides reminded the<br />
world of the gravity of the situation. Some <strong><strong>Pak</strong>istan</strong>i leaders openly<br />
warned of using nuclear weapons to counter India’s overwhelming<br />
conventional military superiority. 18 In the third week of May, <strong><strong>Pak</strong>istan</strong><br />
tested a series of nuclear-capable ballistic missiles and stepped up its<br />
nuclear weapons programme. 19<br />
As the world faced perhaps its tensest nuclear stand-off since<br />
the Cuban missile crisis in 1962, the USA and Britain launched<br />
frantic diplomatic efforts to defuse the situation. President Bush and<br />
Colin Powell called the Indian and <strong><strong>Pak</strong>istan</strong>i leaders several times,<br />
urging them to pull back. On 28 May, the British Foreign Secretary,<br />
Jack Straw, visited <strong>Islam</strong>abad and asked Musharraf to take tougher<br />
measures to counter cross-border terrorism. He reminded <strong><strong>Pak</strong>istan</strong><br />
that as a UN member it had the responsibility to bear down ‘effectively<br />
and consistently on all forms of terrorism, including cross-border<br />
terrorism’. 20 In Delhi the next day, Straw called on the Indian leaders<br />
to exercise restraint. He also told them that Musharraf had promised<br />
to close down ‘terrorist camps’ operating in <strong><strong>Pak</strong>istan</strong>i-administered<br />
Kashmir and curb infiltration into India.<br />
Serious strains had emerged in relations between Washington and<br />
<strong>Islam</strong>abad after reports that the ISI was still linked with the militant<br />
groups. On 31 May, Colin Powell publicly accused <strong><strong>Pak</strong>istan</strong> of<br />
continuing infiltration across the Line of Control, despite Musharraf’s<br />
assurance that it would be halted. 21 <strong>The</strong> following day, Musharraf<br />
told the BBC that he had issued instructions to end the crossing and<br />
stop all militant activities. But the statement did not satisfy the Bush<br />
administration which had demanded that <strong><strong>Pak</strong>istan</strong> shut down crossborder<br />
infiltration permanently. ‘When and if, it does stop, it must also<br />
stop permanently,’ Colin Powell retorted. International patience was<br />
clearly running out with Musharraf’s game of deception.<br />
10