Our men are not PoWs, says Pak

NEW DELHI, AUG 23: Having agreed to withdraw from the Line of Control LoC at Kargil nearly seven weeks ago, that too in front of Presid...

NEW DELHI, AUG 23: Having agreed to withdraw from the Line of Control LoC at Kargil nearly seven weeks ago, that too in front of President Bill Clinton, Pakistan has now told India that its soldiers in custody in New Delhi cannot be called prisoners of war because there was no war between the two countries.

Pakistan8217;s latest disavowal seems to be a cruel trick in the lives of its eight soldiers, who have been alternating between freedom and despair for ten days now. The Ministry of Defence continues to play reluctant hosts waiting for both governments to sort out the matter.

External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh8217;s decision to release them on August 13 gave them a flicker of hope.

However, both bureaucracies moved files back and forth delaying that hope. Now Pakistan seems determined to erase Kargil from public memory, simply by denying that the conflict actually took place.

8220;Pakistan sought to protect the mujahedeen involved in the conflict from the start. But when it comes to their own soldiersthey are hesitating to claim them,8221; sources in the government said.

The note from the Pakistan foreign office, stating that the reference to the alleged Pakistani PoWs is incorrect, because there was no war, came to New Delhi last week. Another missive, since, however acknowledges that these armed forces personnel are 8220;soldiers.8221; But Islamabad continues to hesitate to call them 8220;prisoners of war.8221;

8220;Pakistan wants to have its cake and eat it too,8221; said a ministry official, furious about the fact that Islamabad was attempting to wish away a war it lost to India.

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Citing the Geneva convention, which deals with PoWs, the sources pointed out that it applies to all cases of declared war or armed conflict even if 8220;the state of war was not recognised by one of them.8221; Further, the International Committee for the Red Cross ICRC, whom both governments have invoked, is a usual intermediary between parties involved in conflict.

Sources in New Delhi point out that when Flt Lt Nachiketa8217;s aircraft was shotdown across the LoC on May 27, he was immediately dubbed a 8220;prisoner of war.8221;

Pakistan8217;s inter-services public relations chief had this to say on May 29 to the press: 8220;The arrested Flt Lt Nachiketa was involved in a hostile act by violating air space and as such is being treated as a prisoner of war.8221;

New Delhi feels it is justified in stressing the fine distinction between 8220;soldiers8221; and 8220;PoWs8221; because it fears that Islamabad may otherwise take recourse to a commonly used ruse called 8220;aggressive patrolling.8221;

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Evidently, people from both sides of the border often stray across, where they are picked up and their return journey home is a common subject of conversation between the Directors-Generals of Military Operations DGMOs of both sides.