NEW DELHI, Jan 30 (1990): Army chief General Vishwanath Sharma warned on Tuesday India would deal severely with any attempt by Pakistan to send men across a ceasefire line separating troops of the two countries.
He gave the warning after a senior Indian official in the disputed Kashmir region said India had only just managed to thwart plans for a unilateral declaration of independence (UDI) by Moslem militants there.
Asked if Pakistan would attempt to send armed men into Kashmir, Sharma was quoted by the Press Trust of India as saying: “Such an adventure would be severely punished.”
Thousands of troops from the Indian and Pakistani armies face each other across a ceasefire line drawn through Kashmir after their last war in 1971. India holds two-thirds of the area and Pakistan the remainder.
Sharma renewed Indian charges that Islamabad was aiding a campaign by Moslem militants in Kashmir for independence for the strategic territory or merger with neighbouring Pakistan.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Sahabzada Yaqub Khan denied the charges on Saturday, but said his government would continue to support the militant campaign in Indian-controlled Kashmir.
“Pakistan will not be cowed by any pressure or threat and will continue supporting the Kashmir people’s right of self-determination,” Yaqub Khan said.
Pakistan backs a United Nations resolution calling on India to hold a plebiscite in Kashmir, over which the two countries fought two of their three wars since gaining independence from Britain in 1947.
More than 60 people have died in the past week in the violence sparked in Kashmir by the militant campaign.
The 60 died in clashes between the militants and security forces called into the streets to enforce a curfew in the Kashmir state summer capital of Srinagar and other smaller cities.
The senior figure in Delhi’s new Kashmir administration, briefing reporters in Srinagar, said: “The gravity of the situation hasn’t dawned on the country — whether to say we can save Kashmir or not.”
The official, who declined to be named, held the briefing days after India launched a diplomatic drive to fend off protests from Islamic countries over its clampdown on what appeared to be a popular revolt.
He said Indian intelligence agencies believed the militants planned to cap a week of protest in Srinagar by declaring UDI from the city’s main mosque last Friday, when India celebrated 40 years as a republic.
India, pouring thousands of security forces into its only Moslem-majority state, finally imposed a curfew on Srinagar that day.
“The situation is very grim. We managed to control it on January 26. Peace has returned but…the pressure is on,” the official said.
The official blamed popular backing for the militants on lavish spending by the previous state administration on prestige projects in the impoverished valley.
