India demands Pakistan crackdown on militants

Associated Press

NEW DELHI, India — India said Saturday it would continue to mass tens of thousands of troops at its border until Pakistan cracks down on Islamic militants, rejecting a Pakistani call for the two nations’ leaders to meet to try to defuse the crisis.

Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee said his government would do its best to avert war, but Pakistan warned that the tensions at the border — where the two sides traded fire again Saturday — could trigger a full-fledged conflict between the nuclear-armed nations.

In a phone conversation Saturday, President Bush urged Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to "take additional strong and decisive measures to eliminate the extremists who seek to harm India," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.

Bush also spoke with Vajpayee and said the United States is "determined to cooperate with India in the fight against terrorism," McClellan said. Bush urged both leaders to work to reduce tensions.

Pakistani police say they have arrested at least 30 militants since the Dec. 13 attack by gunmen on India’s Parliament, which sparked the current crisis between the two rivals. On Friday, Bush praised Musharraf for the arrests and said India should "take note" of the crackdown.

India has dismissed Pakistan’s steps as cosmetic, and on Saturday demanded tougher action.

The dozen or so Islamic militant groups based in Pakistan that are battling Indian rule in Kashmir enjoy support among a vocal sector of the public and within segments of the military, making it difficult for Musharraf to carry out a crackdown.

India’s national security adviser, Brajesh Mishra, said Saturday that India will not pull troops from the border until Pakistan takes "credible, firm, substantive and visible action" against militants operating in Kashmir.

Indian and Pakistani soldiers — only 100 yards apart in some places — traded fire Saturday over the "line of control" dividing the disputed Kashmir region, as civilians on both sides of the border were evacuated. India says 20,000 civilians are being moved from homes near the frontier.

Also Saturday, officials in the northern Indian city of Agra said they were preparing to camouflage the Taj Mahal, the country’s most beloved monument, in case of Pakistani airstrikes.

Local tailors were stitching more than 400 yards of khaki, black and green cloth to be strung across the 17th-century mausoleum in an effort to camouflage its four minarets and dome.