They Say Peace Depends on Readiness To Adequately Respond
Vidhya Bhushan SONI, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of India to Ukraine
India has been victimized by international terrorism for decades. The state of Jammu and Kashmir has suffered most of all from border terrorism. Terrorists who came from abroad were given refuge, provided with training facilities, technical support, weapons and ammunition, money and opportunities to safely cross the Pakistani border. The terrorists did not spare even civilians. As a result, more than thirty thousand innocent people were killed. Unfortunately, the denunciation by India of this terrorism, which is supported at the state level, was never given due attention by the international community.
After the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City on September 11, 2001, the hazard of international terrorism was universally recognized, resolute steps were taken immediately to combat this threat. But even after the first strikes on Afghanistan, similar international terrorist forces assaulted the State Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir on October 1. Almost forty people were killed then.
The most outrageous event happened when those terrorists attacked the Indian parliament on December 13, 2001. The whole world witnessed that incident which left 14 people dead, including five terrorists. The investigation found that the attacks had been organized by the Lashkar-i-Thaiba and Jahish-i-Muhammad groups. Both have their headquarters in Pakistan and conduct their disgraceful activity quite openly, neither authorized nor hampered by anyone. India has blamed them for the assault. It urged the world community’s and Pakistan’s attention and demanded a stop to such inadmissible and brutal acts against India. Only then could border terrorism be eradicated.
Sadly, in spite of all the information and evidence provided, Pakistan has never made a single move against these organizations. Thus, India has been left with no alternative but to prepare to single-handedly counteract such organizations. Before we have to do that, we will try to give a chance for peace and easing tensions. But if political steps bring no result, the Indian government will recall the head of its diplomatic mission from Islamabad together with half the staff. We will also resort to economic measures. India has appealed to all peace-loving forces and leaders of the world community to put pressure on Pakistan. So far, none of them has sent a positive reply. We do not accept cosmetic half-measures.
Under these circumstances, India has no choice but to act proceeding from the current situation. Let me stress that India has always been reputed worldwide as a peaceful nation. It has never attacked any country nor even intended to do so. But India should not be tested when it comes to matters of its security.
As for Jammu and Kashmir, it is an inalienable part of India as it was before India’s independence, and it will continue to be in the future. Like in other Indian states, democratic elections are held there. Its people take an active part in political life and choose leaders for themselves. In the past, India was attacked twice because of Kashmir, and both times it duly retaliated. This time too, India is ready for such actions, but only as a last resort. We hope that sanity will prevail in the Pakistani leadership and that Islamabad will heed the voice of the world community: international terrorism in any form and anywhere must be wiped from the face of the earth forever.
Shamun Alam KHAN, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Pakistan to Ukraine
The situation around Kashmir created by India is very tense and jeopardizes peace both in the region and the world. Future developments depend completely on India’s position. The international community has heard proof of this in the Indian side’s statements, which are abundant with the word war and the word peace is scarce. Pakistan, a very responsible nation and an important member of the international anti- terrorist coalition, has sent numerous messages of peace and appealed to India to negotiate in order to resolve all disputes, including the Kashmir problem. Pakistan is ready for bilateral negotiations as well as negotiations with the participation of mediators toward a peaceful solution of all our problems. I want to stress that Pakistan extended a helping hand immediately after the attack on the Indian Parliament. Our leadership immediately condemned the assault and offered a joint investigation. We offered to take appropriate measures against all those responsible for the attack, only if the required evidence were presented. But, unfortunately, instead of appreciating our readiness to cooperate, India not only rejected our proposal, but moved its troops to our border, thus creating a situation resembling war. I would like to remind the readers that in the past India has tried to threaten Pakistan with its military power. The international community knows that in May 1998, almost immediately after it tested its nuclear arms, India began to threaten the very existence of Pakistan. Even if provoked by the other side, Pakistan will not start a war and will try to reduce and ease tensions. However, if India makes a mistake and attacks Pakistan, the world will know that Pakistan can not only defend itself but also make the aggressor sorry for its move. I stress again that Pakistan wants peace, because we earnestly believe that maturity and true might lie in upholding peace rather than in displaying military muscle or threatening the world peace. The international community values highly such a sensible and far-sighted goal pursued by Pakistan. It wholly supports our efforts to achieve peace with India. If India acts in line with Pakistan’s peaceful stance, our peoples will be able to avoid possible death and devastation.
