ISLAMABAD, Jan 30, (1990): Pakistan does not want war with India over a Moslem rebellion in Kashmir but refuses to compromise over the region, Foreign Minister Sahabzada Yaqub Khan said on Tuesday.
In a television address he reiterated Pakistan’s denial of Indian claims that it is responsible for fomenting a rebellion in Indian-controlled Kashmir.
“Pakistan is a peace-loving country and does not want conflict or confrontation with any other,” he said.
“We will not take any step which can endanger peace in this region. However, it is our right and duty to effectively reject India’s wrong stand and baseless allegations.”
Yaqub Khan, who went to New Delhi last week for tough talks over Kashmir, said Pakistan could never bargain away the right of Kashmiris to chose their own future.
“Pakistan will not be cowed by any pressure or threat and will continue supporting the Kashmir people’s right of self-determination,” he said.
More than 60 people have died in India’s Jammu and Kashmir state in the past week, plunging relations between the two countries to their lowest point since Premier Benazir Bhutto took power in late 1988.
Politicians, diplomats and the media have begun talking about another war as the level of rhetoric has risen on both sides of the divided mountain region neighbouring China.
India and Pakistan have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947, two of them over Kashmir.
Indian Foreign Minister Inder Gujral declared last week that he did not want war and Yaqub Khan said he assured India last week of Pakistan’s peaceful intentions.
“I stressed that…the need of the hour is to keep open avenues of mutual dialogue between the two governments so wrong decisions are not taken because of any misunderstanding.”
Despite the conciliatory words, Yaqub Khan underlined Pakistan’s refusal to compromise and accused India of trying to stifle dissent in the two-thirds of Kashmir it rules.
Throughout his 12-minute address Yaqub Khan called the militants fighting in Indian Kashmir “freedom-fighters” — a description that is certain to infuriate India.
“Through civil disobedience, strikes and laying down their lives, the freedom fighters have proved…that while the wave of freedom is sweeping the whole world, the Kashmiri people cannot be deprived of their basic rights and of self-determination by force.”
He accused the newly-elected Indian government of Vishwanath Pratap Singh of trying to hide the real causes of the revolt in the Kashmir valley by making baseless charges against Pakistan.
“This stand of India and allegations against Pakistan are totally contrary to the facts,” he said.
India asserts that Kashmir decided to join the Indian union after independence, while Pakistan argues it is still disputed territory which should be allowed to choose through a plebiscite under United Nations auspices.
A U.N. observer force has been deployed along the 1,400-km (870-mile) ceasefire line since 1949 but can do little more than watch as the Indian and Pakistani troops trade small-arms fire across the divide almost daily.
Observers counted 600 Indian violations last year. The year before there were 240, double the 1987 figure. The United Nations does not count Pakistani violations because the Indians do not allow them to investigate.
