Indai /Pakistan News.......
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Gunmen slay 24 in Hindu village in India-controlled Kashmir
The Jerusalem Post
24 March 2003
Unidentified gunmen massacred 24 people in a Hindu village in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir early Monday, police said.
The attack occurred in Nadimarg, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Srinagar, summer capital of Jammu-Kashmir state. Attackers overpowered guards at the village and snatched their weapons away, police said.
More than a dozen Islamic militant groups in Jammu-Kashmir, the only state with a Muslim majority, have been fighting for Kashmir's independence from Hindu-majority India, or its merger with mostly Muslim Pakistan.
The attack Monday came one day after unidentified gunmen assassinated an Islamic guerrilla leader who was sacked from Kashmir's biggest rebel group and was holding secret talks with the Indian government.
The assassination of Abdul Majid Dar, former Kashmir commander of the Hezb-ul Mujahedeen, was a setback for Indian security authorities, who were trying to persuade him to take up a possible political role in the state wracked by 13 years of separatist violence.
Dar was fatally shot in the town of Sopore, a separatist stronghold 55 kilometers (35 miles) north of Srinagar.
India accuses Pakistan of sponsoring the 13-year insurgency, which has killed more than 61,000 people. Pakistan denies the charge, saying it only supports the rebels' cause and does not give them any material aid.
The South Asian nuclear rivals fought two of their three wars over control of Kashmir, which both claim in its entirety. -
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_220249,000900010002.htm
J&K massacre: Chronology
Srinagar
Press Trust of India, March 24
Jan 25/26, 1997
25 Kashmiri pandits killed at Wandhama-Ganderbal Srinagar
March 20, 1997
Seven Kashmiri pandits killed in Sangrampura (Budgam)
April 18, 1998
27 Hindus killed in Prankote in Udhampur district in Jammu region.
June 19, 1998
25 Hindus killed in Chapnari area of Doda district in Jammu region.
July 28, 1998
16 Hindus killed in two villages of Doda district in Jammu region.
August 8, 1998
35 labourers killed in Kalaban on Jammu-Himachal Pradesh border.
Feb 20, 1999
Four Hindus killed at Muraputta-Rajouri, nine at Barlyara-Udhampur and seven at
Bllala-Rajouri in Jammu.
June 30, 1999
15 Hindu labourers killed in Anantnag district of south Kashmir.
July 19, 1999
15 Hindus killed at Layata in Doda district of Jammu.
February 28, 2000
Five Hindu drivers killed near Qazigund in Anantnag district.
March 20, 2000
35 Sikhs massacred at Chatisinghpora
August 1, 2000
31 people including Amarnath yatris killed at Pahalgam in Anantnag.
August 1-2, 2000
27 labourers gunned down in Qazigund and Achabal in Anantnag.
August 2, 2000
Seven family members killed in frontier district of Kupwara in north Kashmir.
August 2, 2000
11 Hindus killed in Doda district of Jammu.
February 3, 2001
Six Sikhs gunned down in Mahjoornagar in Srinagar.
February 11, 2001
15 members of nomad (Gujjar) families massacred in Kot-Chadwal in Rajouri district of Jammu.
March 2, 2001
15 policemen and two medical assistant killed in Manjkote area of Rajouri.
March 17, 2001
Eight people massacred near Atholi in Doda.
July 21, 2001
13 people, including seven Amarnath pilgrims killed at Sheshnag in Anantnag.
July 22, 2001
12 people massacred in Cheerji and Tagood in Doda district of Jammu.
August 4, 2001
15 villagers killed in Ludder-Sharotid -
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_220279,000900010002.htm
Pulwama massacre rocks assembly; MLA tears his clothes
Press Trust of India
Jammu, March 24
The massacre of Kashmiri pandits today rocked the Jammu and Kashmir assembly where pandemonium broke out with a BJP MLA tearing his clothes even as members demanded adequate security for migrants.
The trouble erupted when BJP member Jugal Kishore spoke during a discussion on an adjournment motion on the massacre.
Speaker Tara Chand asked the BJP legislator to finish his speech as the prescribed time alloted to him was over.
The member, however, continued with his speech in which he condemned the brutal act of militants, prompting the Speaker to ask the watch and ward staff to forcibly remove him.
The watch and ward staff lifted the MLA out of the house.
Angered by this, Kishore tore his clothes and shouted anti-government slogans in the lobby of the assembly.
Earlier, the Speaker described the massacre in a hamlet in Pulwama as an inhuman act and said the House expressed its condolence to members of breaved families. -
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_220247,0008.htm
PM convenes CCS meeting on J&K
Press Trust of India
New Delhi, March 24
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has convened a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security to discuss the situation in Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of massacre of 24 Kashmiri Pandits in Pulwama district early on Monday morning.
The meeting is expected to review the security scenario following the massacre as well as the assassination of Hizbul Mujahideen leader and a moderate face Abdul Majid Dar.
The CCS meeting is expected to be attended by Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani and Defence Minister George Fernandes. -
heal the world, make it a better place
for you and for me and the entire human race
there are people dying
if you care enough for the living
make a better place for you and for me. -
i post the iran topic, the syria missile hit, north koea news......n the iraq 1s.......guess ww3 is truely coming eh?Originally posted by foga:heal the world, make it a better place
for you and for me and the entire human race
there are people dying
if you care enough for the living
make a better place for you and for me.
-
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/EC25Df01.html
Pakistan's mullahs thrive on anti-war feverBy M B Naqvi
KARACHI - The burnings of United States flags and effigies of US President George W Bush have now become de rigueur for frequent demonstrations and rallies organized by the religious parties in Pakistan against the war on Iraq.
Indeed, against this backdrop, the religious right in the country is positioning itself even closer to power.
The loudest critics of US policy on Iraq are the religious parties that have united in the Muttaheda Majlis-i-Amal (MMA), which comprises a third of the national parliament and wholly controls the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), has a dominant share in Balochistan province adjoining Afghanistan and is present in Punjab and Sindh provinces.
The MMA call for general strike last Friday which led to widespread shutdowns throughout the country. It was a success in NWFP and Balochistan provinces, but was only sporadic in Punjab and Sindh.
Religious parties and groups are cashing in on a widespread pan-Islamic sentiment, a characteristic of South Asian Muslims. They see the war on Iraq in black and white, as a clash of religions: Christian America and West - forget the actual facts - against a Muslim country, Iraq.
More pan-Islamic propaganda by mullahs has acquired a lot of paranoia and some xenophobia against the West. It curiously ignores "old Europe's" opposition to America's war and the worldwide demonstrations by millions of people of all religions or none.
Naimatullah Khan, a prominent MMA leader of Karachi who is also city's mayor, enjoys the reputation of being moderate and level-headed. He observed, "This war has no justification; it is against the UN charter and indeed will deal a blow to both UN and international law."
Astute politician that he is, he did not bring in the religious bit at all, realizing that he was speaking to an international audience. The MMA is exploiting the religious sentiments of Pakistani Muslims to gain power. This power drive by the mullahs has posed the secular elements in the country - an influential minority - a dilemma. They, too, object to the war on political and legal grounds, but their demonstrations are smaller. The majority among the West-oriented politicians is secular, but their shibboleths are taken from the mullahs.
Those who lead big, right-wing parties court the United States for support. But their politics, god and country, is heavily garnished with vacuous Islamic rhetoric. They have ended up strengthening the mullahs far more than themselves.
In short, the MMA is having the best of both worlds: On one side, it is cashing in on the widespread anti-US feelings, stealing anti-imperialist slogans from the left and, on the other, is bargaining with the generals. The generals are still the only people who matter in giving a share in power. But they dread the US reaction.
The generals, the silent puppeteers behind the show of the technically democratic government of Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali, and their chief, President General Pervez Musharraf, are at sea regarding what policy to adopt toward the US and the Iraq war they silently support.
Government views are carried by the media. But the generals are falling between two stools of reflecting popular feelings, with genuflections toward the MMA, and the need to remain on the right side of the US, on whose support they depend. In the event, neither objective is achieved, the US takes a dim view of what Islamabad is doing.
Mainstream right-wing parties stand crippled by the generals, except for the turncoat toadies who once belonged to the then Pakistan Muslim League of former Premier Nawaz Sharif, and are now the ruling party as the PML (Quaid-i-Azam).
They are dwarfed under the shadow of Musharraf and are not taken seriously. Their many efforts to woo the MMA to join the government have produced no result. The mullahs are aiming higher and treat the ruling party with contempt. The US, too, remains wary.
The other mainstream party that polled more votes than it got seats in last year's polls, the Pakistan Peoples Party of ex-prime minister Benazir Bhutto, is keeping aloof from all anti-US demonstrations, keeping a low profile. It is afraid of annoying the US.
Sharif's PML is also in the dumps with fewer seats in parliament, thanks to the peculiar results in the October 2002 election. Its rhetoric is borrowed mostly from MMA and does not really count today.
The left is only a dim memory from decades ago. Its atomized remnants are found in many non-government organizations. Their old allies, the regional nationalist parties, were never left-wing in texture, are marked by factionalism, and fast becoming inconsequential.
Balochistan continues to live in the Middle Ages and is represented by mullahs and the rich tribal chiefs or sardars. Only one regional nationalist party counts electorally because it emerged the second largest party in the last polls the Muttahida Quami Movement of Altaf Hussain.
But ethnic Sindhi groups regard MQM's nationalist credentials with suspicion because of accusations of its fascist tendencies. It is the backbone of Sindh's provincial government as the largest party of the ruling coalition. It has a deserved reputation of being pro-US.
But one of its leaders, ex-senator Nasreen Jalil, repeated a populist line on Iraq and emphasized the humanitarian factor. "Too many Iraqi lives are going to be needlessly lost. There is no real justification for it. Saddam's weapons of mass destruction, clearly questionable, would not be unique; so many others, especially Israel, have them. Would the US fight against them all?"
Asked about the war, Hamza Alvi, a leftist intellectual, disassociated himself from all that nonsense about a "clash of civilizations" or of religions. He said, "'The US is set on a course of enforcing a new, updated version of imperialism. Bush's immediate objective may be oil and giving Israel more security.
"But the vision behind the current American quest covers most of Asia, aiming at the encirclement of China and putting Russia in its proper place. It has all but secured South Asia and is well on its way to dominate Central Asia," he added. "Their nemesis - popular reactions and struggles - may seem far away. But they might not be all that far away either, including the many fooled Americans," Alvi said.
(Inter Press Service) -
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/EC15Df01.html
Pakistanis rally to the religious right
By Muddassir Rizvi
ISLAMABAD - The looming United States-led attack against Iraq is turning out to be a litmus test of the strength of secular peace movement in Pakistan, in comparison to the one spearheaded by right-wingers.
In recent weeks, peace campaigners have been looking with envy at the multitude of people that the religious parties have been able to gather in rallies against the expected attack against Iraq.
The latest such rally in Rawalpindi, the twin city of the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, drew up to 500,000 people under the banner of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) - an alliance of six religious parties - gathering at the same venue where less than 100 marchers belonging to various public interest groups had gathered on February 15 anti-war protests around the world.
It is not just the numbers that made the two protests different but the ideology of the protesters - the MMA marchers called the American war ambitions a war against Islam while the February 15 protesters represented the secular peace movement that opposes war for its devastation, irrationality and human and economic costs.
"The low number of people who attended the February 15 rally in Islamabad and Rawalpindi as anywhere else in the country was shocking for us, but at the same time it has given us reason to identify the causes that restricted people from coming out," says Asim Sajjad Akhtar, who heads the Pakistan Rights Movement (PRM) and was one of the organizers of last month's anti-war protest.
These are uncomfortable times for the secular peace movement, which got a boost after it adopted an anti-nuclear position after Pakistan and India's testing of nuclear weapons in 1998. The nuclearization of South Asia prompted some non-government groups to organize peace groups with a view to creating a critical mass supporting peace and nuclear disarmament, while others initiated permanent projects on peace education.
The Citizens' Peace Committee in Islamabad organized a 1,000-strong peace rally in the capital on Hiroshima Day in 1998, one of the biggest ever held by NGOs. The local peace groups were later knit into a national group called the Pakistan Peace Coalition (PPC).
However, the PPC proved to be non-starter as it relied on non-government groups than creating linkages with the political parties and people. Instead of making inroads in public and expanding its membership to make itself politically and financially, it organized conferences using money from the much-criticized Western donors.
"However much good work the NGOs are engaged in, there are many who question their legitimacy on several counts - whether it is their sources of funding or their way of working. NGOs can never be a replacement to political parties and cannot mobilize public opinion in the same fashion as a political party does," said Kaneez Zehra, a peace activist based in Islamabad.
The PRM chief agrees, saying that the secular peace movement in Pakistan is a political orphan and peace issues are generally not on the list of priorities of political parties. He said that one of the important reasons for an abysmally low number of people who turned out last month, on the day when millions protested against the impending Iraq attack throughout the world, was lack of interest by non-religious political parties in the Iraq issue - or probably wariness in taking a categorical stand on an issue sensitive in this mainly Muslim country.
"A vigorous peace movement needs political support, but secular political parties in the country are too embroiled in power politics that they have no time to take up issues that are close to people's hearts," Akhtar said. He was referring to the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) which polled the highest number - almost 26 percent of total votes - in last October's elections. It is second largest party in parliament.
The PPP, which has championed a progressive agenda since its inception in the late 1960s, has, however, adopted a policy of silence over the Iraq issue as it did in the case of the US-led military attacks on Afghanistan after September 11. The PPP and other mainstream non-religious political parties have so far not organized protests opposing the US attack on Iraq.
While the ruling Q League would stay away from what its leaders call "street theatrics" for understandable reasons, many non-religious parties, like cricketer-turn-politician Imran Khan's Pakistan Justice Party, have aligned themselves with the MMA on the issue. Khan even addressed the MMA rally in Rawalpindi.
The Pakistan Muslim League, led by exiled former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, has organized some protest rallies in some cities, but adopted a line close to that of the religious parties.
Political scientists say that the PPP and other non-religious parties - having a stake in power - are abstaining from adopting any clear-cut policy on issues involving US interests, due to great US-influence in the country's politics.
"The PPP, being the main anti-establishment party, will not want to take an anti-US position at a time when the Pakistani military is drawing closer to Washington by virtue of the growing anti-Americanism in the country," observed a researcher at the government-run Institute of Regional Studies, requesting anonymity.
"If the PPP goes to the opposition camp, it will be assumed in American official circles that the Pakistani military is the only choice for protecting American interests in Pakistan and the adjoining region," he added. "I personally went to the PPP office in Islamabad and requested them to call the party workers to attend the February 15 protests, but officials there said there is no such order from the party leadership," said Sarwar Bari, head of the Pattan Development Foundation that has been organizing street theaters to sensitize people on the political dimension of US war designs.
Still, Bari said that people must be educated about the real reasons for US expansionism. "The MMA is mobilizing people around a religious agenda that breeds intolerance and hatred. The silence of non-religious parties is creating space for the religious right to further their extremist agenda and consolidate their political position," he said.
Bari said that people must know the facts, and the facts are that the US war designs against Iraq have nothing to do with Islam, but are in pursuit of its geo-strategic objectives. "People must know that the US has initiated some 34 major wars around the world since 1945 and Muslims constitute a very small fraction of its war victims."
How the secular peace movement can be strengthened and its message brought across in these very divided times boggles activists' minds. To them, it points out the need for more organization among people's groups, inroads into the political parties and peace education programs, especially directed toward children.
But until that time, they have to live with groups like the MMA, which may also be against war on Iraq but which peace activists believe is advocating views more damaging in the end to peace.
(Inter Press Service) -
It is amazing when one watch and listen to the twisted logic and hate that spout from the mouth of the angry Arab "man-on-the-street", when given the opportunity to speak on camera.
The illogical attitude of tolerating the murderous Saddam towards the common Iraqi, when compared to the illogical hatred towards the US-UK led coalition force - who risk their lives and limbs - to get rid of Saddam and bring freedom to the peoples of Iraq.
This same twisted logic spread across all strata of the Arab society, from the menial worker, to the educated engineer, teacher, businessmen, and even the intellectuals in the various tertiary institutions, as well as government bodies.
No wonder, the Arab world could not bring their society towards any further advancement, when they are unable to rid themselves of something that they abhor; only to scream and shout, but only to be helpless with their anger. -
hopefully not brudder.Originally posted by duotiga83:i post the iran topic, the syria missile hit, north koea news......n the iraq 1s.......guess ww3 is truely coming eh?
let us all as part of the human race pray that that dn ever happen brudder.
peace........ -
March 24, 2003
Islamist nuke in an uncertain arsenal?
Arnaud de Borchgrave
A Pakistani nuclear missile can now hit Tel Aviv, according to a former Pakistani intelligence chief who is "strategic adviser" to his country's Islamist politico-religious parties.
Gen. Hamid Gul, the retired head of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency, in his latest well-publicized (in Pakistan) statement, says: "We have the nuclear capability that can destroy Madras [India]. Surely the same missile can do the same to Tel Aviv. Washington cannot stop Muslim suicidal attacks. Taliban are still alive and along with 'friends.' They will continue the holy jihad against the U.S. America will destroy Iraq and later on repeat the same act of war against Pakistan, Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia."
A coalition of six extremist religious parties (MMA) now governs two of Pakistan's four provinces — a direct result of the free elections the U.S. insisted be held after President Pervez Musharraf endorsed the Bush administration's war on terror. MMA leader Sami ul-Haq, a newly elected senator, has also declared jihad against the U.S. and Israel. "If the U.S. attacks Iraq, the MMA alliance and all their supporters will attack Washington and Tel Aviv," he said.
Another redoubtable MMA leader, Fazlur Rehman, said, for his part, "The U.S. better take seriously the consequences of its attack against Iraq because we are fully capable of taking revenge." Arguably the most powerful extremist religious leader, Qazi Hussain Ahmed, head of Jamat-e-Islamai, warned President Bush he "will suffer the horrible punishment of God."
Pakistan possesses between 35 and 60 nuclear weapons with the missile capability (obtained from North Korea) to deliver them. The nuclear arsenal is designed as a deterrent to India's older nuclear capability. India conducted its first nuclear tests in 1974. This was the first time an influential Pakistani, well-known for his visceral hatred of the U.S. and Israel, had mentioned another nation besides India as a possible target for Pakistani nukes.
A number of Pakistani generals are Islamist fundamentalists and resent Mr. Musharraf's close alliance with the U.S. It was a "shotgun wedding," some of them have said. Mr. Musharraf had no choice when Mr. Bush called him the day after September 11, 2001, and asked him whether he could count on him to pursue the new war against Taliban and al Qaeda. Mr. Musharraf made a quick command decision, broke with the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and gave the U.S. the use of several bases for Operation Enduring Freedom.
The all-powerful ISI's culture has long been anti-American, dating back to 1989 when the Soviets pulled out of Afghanistan and the U.S. began punishing Pakistan for its secret nuclear buildup. Ever since the collapse of Taliban in November 2001, ISI officers have spread the word among the tribal chiefs along their ill-defined Pakistani-Afghan border that "America will be coming after Pakistan's nuclear arsenal as soon as they have finished with Afghanistan."
How safe is Pakistan's nuclear arsenal? Shortly after September 11, Mr. Musharraf ordered the country's nuclear weapons to be detached from their launchers and stored in six different secret locations with fail-safe security systems. But Mr. Musharraf has survived six assassination plots since September 11, and the CIA is clearly concerned about the very real possibility an Islamist general could take over one day — and acquire control of the arsenal.
Pakistan has carefully refrained from signing the comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty. Nor is it committed to the non-first-use doctrine. India and Pakistan pulled back last summer from a face-off involving 1 million troops. There is little doubt if India were to humiliate Pakistan militarily over the longstanding Kashmir dispute, Pakistan would retaliate with a nuclear salvo. Senior Indian national security officials accept this possibility with equanimity. In fact, one of them, speaking privately a month ago, said: "We could easily survive one or two nuclear hits. But when we retaliate, Pakistan would disappear from the map."
The North Korean crisis has been adjudged by Secretary of State Colin Powell as "not a crisis." Pakistan, in that perspective, is even less of a crisis.
Arnaud de Borchgrave is editor at large of The Washington Times and of United Press International.
http://washingtontimes.com/commentary/20030324-26509390.htm -
it is WW1 and WW2 that shaped the world that is today. WW3 will only advance us even further into the future. Bush is aligning crooked lines, taking out tyrants and commies. WW1 is because of one person, WW2 is clearly about conquering for resource and land. WW3 will be different war, it is war to inject democracy, don't condemn this war just because it is called a war. WW3 is good, and WW4 will be more good. the Iraqi's will benefit from this war in iraq. they don't have to worry about being dissolved in chemical tanks, grinded alive, hanged or punched for not performing well in sports. Please support this war. Many people will die.
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the only think i hope is for us to win this war.they better clear the mess they started
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YES!!
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India, Pakistan Both Test Fire Missiles
1 hour, 32 minutes ago
By NIRMALA GEORGE, Associated Press Writer
NEW DELHI, India - India test-fired a short-range missile capable of carrying a nuclear weapon on Wednesday, and neighbor Pakistan immediately announced that it had tested a similar missile.
The nuclear-armed rivals often conduct such tit-for-tat tests of missiles capable of reaching parts of the other's territory.
India launched the surface-to-surface Prithvi missile Wednesday from the Chandipur testing range in eastern Orissa state, said Baljit Singh Menon, a defense ministry spokesman.
Menon said it was a routine test to improve the version of the Prithvi that would be used by the army, and described the launch as a "user's trial" that was "successful in every respect."
In Islamabad, Foreign Ministry spokesman Aziz Ahmed Khan said Pakistan on Wednesday tested one of its Abdali missiles, which can carry both nuclear and conventional warheads and has a range of less than 132 miles. Khan would not say where the missile test was conducted, or whether it occurred before or after the Indian test,
"Pakistan has also test fired a missile today, but we informed India about it," Khan said.
Khan said Pakistan was taken by surprise by India's announcement that it had fired a Prithvi missile. "They didn't tell us about it beforehand," he said.
With the United States and the international community consumed by the war in Iraq (news - web sites), there are fears that both India and Pakistan might carry out provocations so as to keep some of the world's attention on their dispute over the divided Kashmir (news - web sites) region.
The two countries shocked the world with dual underground nuclear tests in 1998, each earning international sanctions for their actions.
The countries have fought three wars since they gained independence from Britain in 1947, and almost fought another one as tensions rose last year. They both rushed hundreds of thousands of troops to their border, raising fear of a nuclear exchange, before international mediation defused the conflict.
India's latest test was one of scores carried out by its Defense Research and Development Organization to perfect the capability of the missile to carry a nuclear warhead. They have conducted 16 trials of the army version of the Prithvi, which was first test fired in February 1988.
The Prithvi, which means Earth in the Hindi language, can carry a payload of one ton. The Chandipur missile testing range lies 750 miles southeast of New Delhi.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=516&ncid=731&e=2&u=/ap/20030326/ap_on_re_as/india_missile_test -
another 1`...
India and Pakistan exchange nuclear-capable missile tests
The Jerusalm Post
26 March 2003
India test-fired a nuclear-capable missile Wednesday at its testing ranges in eastern India. Several hours later, Pakistan tested a similar missile with range to hit India, officials said.
The tit-for-tat missile tests come a day after India blamed "our neighbor" for the massacre by unidentified gunmen of 24 Hindus in Kashmir, the Himalayan province claimed by both South Asian rivals.
"Pakistan has also test fired a missile today, but we informed India about it," Aziz Ahmed Khan, the spokesman for the Pakistani Foreign Ministry, told The Associated Press.
"They didn't tell us about it beforehand," Khan said. "The common practice is for each country to inform the other before conducting a test, but this time we were surprised."
Khan said Pakistan tested its Abdali missile, which can carry both nuclear and conventional warheads and has a range of less than 200 kilometers (132 miles). He would not say where the missile test was conducted, or at what time.
Khan said Islamabad was surprised by New Delhi's announcement that India had fired off a Prithvi missile from the Chandipur missile testing range in Orissa state. That missile has a range of 153 kilometers (95 miles).
Khan said India was informed on Tuesday about Pakistan's plans to conduct the missile tests.
A Ministry of External Affairs official in New Delhi said it normally informs Islamabad of missile tests, but that those notices are based on the range of the missile test. He said he didn't immediately know whether the range of the Prithvi would have required notification.
Indian Ministry of Defense spokesman P.K. Bandopadhyay had little to say about Pakistan's test fire. "We are not concerned. We have no comments," he said.
Another defense ministry spokesman, Baljit Singh Menon, confirmed India's most sophisticated Prithvi missile was successfully tested from the Chandipur testing range.
The short-range missile, developed by Indian missile scientists, had a perfect lift off at its launch at 11:30 a.m. (0600 GMT), Menon said.
Menon said it was a routine test to improve the version of the Prithvi that would be used by the army, and described the launch as a "user's trial."
"The launch was witnessed by senior army officials. All the objectives of the mission were met and the launch was successful in every respect," Menon said.
The two countries shocked the world with dual underground nuclear tests in 1998, each earning international sanctions for their actions.
The countries have fought three wars since they gained independence from Britain in 1947, and almost fought another one as tensions rose last year. They both rushed hundreds of thousands of troops to their common border, raising fears of a nuclear exchange, before international mediation defused the conflict.
"Pakistan is making sure that India gets the message that it is not going to be cowed down by the last confrontation and is prepared to match India test for test," said Kanti Bajpai, a professor of international affairs at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi.
"Both India and Pakistan had promised to solidify their nuclear deterrence after the nuclear tests in 1998. Pakistan wants to make clear it's not far behind with its missile capability," Bajpai said.
The test in India was one of scores carried out by the Defense Research and Development Organization to perfect the capability of the missile to carry a nuclear warhead.
The Chandipur missile testing range is located 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) southeast of New Delhi.
India's missile arsenal includes the Trishul, a surface-to-air missile which targets aircraft and can counter sea-skimming missiles; the intermediate-range Agni, which can reach 2,415 kilometers (1,500 miles); the short-range ballistic missile Prithvi with a range of 153 kilometers (95 miles); and the anti-tank Nag missile.
Since the five nuclear tests in 1998, Indian defense scientists have been engaged in developing a missile delivery system for its nuclear arsenal. The DRDO has conducted 16 trials of the army version of the Prithvi, which was first test fired in February 1988.
The Prithvi, which means Earth in the Hindi language, can carry a payload of 1 ton.
Last month, India test-fired a supersonic cruise missile jointly developed by New Delhi and Moscow and capable of hitting several Pakistani cities. -
India successfully test fires Prithvi
AFP
Balasore, March 26
India fired its surface-to-surface Prithvi missile, which can carry a one-tonne nuclear warhead a distance of 150 kilometres, at 11.30 am from Chandipur-on-sea in Orissa.
Pakistan, too, fired a short-range missile but it was not known if the test followed or preceded the launch of India's 8.5-metre Prithvi, which has a minimum range of 40 kilometres.
Indian military sources insisted the Pakistani missile launch was a tit-for-tat test-flight.
In Islamabad, however, the Pakistani government claimed its missile test had been conducted without prior knowledge of its rival's.
"We have conducted a successful Abdali missile test today and we had given prior information to all our neighbours about the test," government spokesman Aziz Ahmed Khan told AFP.
"The missile test by India came as a surprise. We were not notified about the test in accordance with the memorandum of understanding signed by the two countries on February 21, 1991," he said.
The Abdali surface-to-surface missile has a range of up to 200 kilometers (125 miles) and is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, an official source said.
Military experts and political analysts in India said the timing of the Prithvi launch was calibrated to send a message to the United States, currently waging an all-out war in Iraq, as well as a separate warning to Pakistan.
"We visualise the test as a signal to Pakistan that the massacre of 24 Hindus in Kashmir has led to a fair amount of anger all over India and that such things are no more acceptable," said NK Sareen, a former chief of the Indian air force.
Sareen said the test of Prithvi, a tactical missile that has built-in computers and advanced navigation and guidance systems, appeared to be deliberately timed to coincide with the height of the conflict in Iraq.
"To the Americans the test gives two messages: You are sitting there in Pakistan but you have not squeezed (President Pervez) Musharraf's neck enough, which is not acceptable to us," the air force chief said.
"Thousands of terrorist camps are still operating in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Washington is following a different objective of killing Iraqi women and children -- and that without finding the smoking gun of weapons of mass destruction or chemical weapons," Sareen said.
India, which blamed Pakistan for the weekend massacre, also accuses it of arming and training terrorists in Kashmir. It is also pressuring the US to force Islamabad to end its support of cross-border-terrorism.
Indian defence spokesman P. Bandhopadhaya was at pains to de-link Prithvi's flight, abandoned twice last December due to glitches, to regional frictions or to India's vehement opposition to the US war on Iraq.
"This was just a developmental trial and hence the test should not be linked to any situation or issue because it is an ongoing process," he insisted.
Prithvi has so far been tested 16 times since its first trial in 1988.
"But at the same time, the test wants to explain that India is unperturbed by the global developments and that it will hone its pre-emptive strike capabilities if a war is thrust upon us," added political analyst Anand Ojha.
India, which conducted a series of nuclear tests in 1998, reversed its no-first-use doctrine last year with a warning that even a chemical or biological weapon attack on the soil would provoke a nuclear retaliation.
Prithvi, which means Earth, can be tipped with incendiary and fragmentary munitions or can carry a sub-kiloton nuclear warhead for use on massed troops or armoured formations.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_221640,0008.htm