India, Pakistan build up for war

By Laurinda Keys

Associated Press

NEW DELHI, India – India said its missiles were “in position” and air force jets flew near the Pakistan border every few minutes today as the two nuclear-armed nations prepared for a war both say they don’t want.

Despite daily exchanges of gunfire, officials from both sides said the border region between the two countries was relatively calm today. Pakistan’s reaction to India’s moves has been muted, though President Pervez Musharraf said his military was “fully prepared” to respond to any attack.

India’s security Cabinet met today to discuss “further diplomatic offensives,” Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh said. Further steps could include a possible ban on Pakistan airline flights, abrogation of a water treaty, downgrading of embassies and cancellation of Pakistan’s “most favored nation” trading status.

No decision would be made until Thursday, when Indian Defense Minister George Fernandes returns from visiting Indian troops on the Siachen Glacier, which borders Pakistan and China.

There were signs that war was not the first priority for either side. News reports quoted Indian military sources as saying they would not be ready for a full-scale war for several months and would prefer to avoid fighting during winter.

And Singh confirmed that Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee would go to a summit of South Asian leaders in Katmandu, Nepal, next week that Musharraf also plans to attend.

Still, Fernandes told Press Trust of India that “missile systems are in position.” India’s arsenal includes medium-range Russian missiles and the Indian-made Prithvi I, which can be fired from a mobile launcher and has a range of 93 miles.

Pakistani missiles – including medium-range Chinese-made weapons – have also been put on alert, Pakistan and Indian news media reported, as troops on both sides moved toward the border.

Both sides’ missile systems can be converted to deliver nuclear warheads, but it is not clear whether such steps have been taken.

Tensions between the two countries have spiraled since India accused Pakistan’s spy agency of sponsoring a deadly Dec. 13 attack by gunmen on Parliament in New Delhi, a charge Islamabad denies. India says two Pakistan-based Islamic militant groups conducted the attack.

Pakistan has so far arrested 30 members of one of the two groups, Jaish-e-Mohammed – including its founder, a commander in the group, Hassan Bark said today. The Pakistani government said the group’s founder, Maulana Masood Azhar, was arrested Monday and was being held in an undisclosed location.

India has been demanding Islamabad take action against Jaish-e-Mohammed and the second group it accuses in the attack, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba. Both are battling to end Indian rule in Kashmir. Pakistan has frozen the groups’ assets.

“We do not want war, but war is being thrust on us and we will have to face it,” Vajpayee said Tuesday at his residence, where he was celebrating his 77th birthday.

Musharraf warned India against any military action, saying Pakistan’s armed forces “are fully prepared and capable of defeating all challenges.”

But he also criticized Muslim militants in Pakistan, who he said have “undermined Islam to a level that people of the world associate it with illiteracy, backwardness, intolerance.”

In contrast to previous periods of tension with India, Pakistan has been more cautious with its rhetoric. Officials in Islamabad have declined comment, saying they do not wish to escalate the war of words.

Pakistan’s position has been bolstered by its new presence on the world stage, which has increased with its cooperation with the U.S.-led coalition against terrorism.

India and Pakistan have fought three wars since their violent division upon gaining independence from Britain in 1947. Two of the wars have been over Kashmir, the mostly Muslim Himalayan region that is divided between them. Both claim all of it.

After the Parliament attack, India recalled its ambassador from Islamabad and announced plans to shut down train and bus service between the two countries on Jan. 1, saying the diplomatic offensive is intended to pressure Musharraf to take strong action against the guerrillas.

Islamic militants have carried out strikes in the Indian part of Kashmir since 1989 in its fight for independence for the region or a merger with Pakistan in an insurgency that human rights groups say has killed more than 60,000 people.

India says the militants have also struck elsewhere, including the Parliament attack, which killed 14 people, including five attackers.

Musharraf condemned the Parliament attack but said he would take no action without proof implicating the militants, whom he calls “freedom fighters.” He denies that his government helps or has any control over them.

India also is lobbying for international pressure on Pakistan by linking the militants to the terrorist network that the U.S.-led coalition is fighting in Afghanistan.

Soldiers traveled to the border state of Rajasthan by train today and air force jets flew over the border town of Jaisalmer every seven minutes.