Periscope on Pakistan

India trying to pin hijack on PakTHE NATION:The hijacking of the Indian Airlines flight from Kathmandu to Delhi has thrown into relief som...

India trying to pin hijack on Pak
THE NATION:The hijacking of the Indian Airlines flight from Kathmandu to Delhi has thrown into relief some of the inherent Indian attitudes towards Pakistan. The Indian government has communicated its thanks to the Pakistani authorities for their cooperation and handling of the incident.

Unfortunately, this private8217; gratitude has not only not been reflected in the Indian media8217;s coverage of the incident, but gratuitous and vicious attempts have been made to lay the blame for the incident on Pakistan. The Pakistan government only acceded to the request of the Indian government to allow landing in Lahore for fear of a disaster, since the plane was low on fuel. Acting with caution and restraint, Pakistan had refuelled and supplied the plane with food, water and medicines and then allowed it to leave for Dubai8230;In Amritsar, where the Indian authorities could have prevented the plane from leaving, no attempt seems to have been made to do so.

This hasfuelled suspicion that Indian authorities wanted to shift the onus for handling the incident, as well as the blame for it taking place at all, onto Pakistan. The Indian government8217;s own intransigence on not negotiating with the hijackers has posed a serious threat to the lives of the passengers and crew of the ill-fated plane, whereas their safety should have been uppermost in New Delhi8217;s considerations8230;

The Indian government8217;s hard line is strangely at odds with its professions of concern for the lives of the passengers and crew still on board the aircraft. The Indian media, meanwhile, has gone to town trying to pin the blame for the incident on Pakistan, forgetting that their own government requested, and was granted, every cooperation from the Pakistan government on humanitarian and international law considerations. This propaganda blast merely reflects the long-standing tendency in India to blame everyone except themselves for self-created problems. It is the Indian government8217;s suppression of theKashmiris which underlies such incidents.

Khurana angry with Indian govt8217;
The Nation : Report from Kandahar: The negotiations between a three-member UN delegation and the hijackers of the Indian Airbus failed mainly because of the non-participation of any Indian government representative. The hijackers, however, stuck to their demands, for the release of some Kashmiri leaders. 8220;After failing on Indian side to send the delegation, now the Taliban authorities are compelled to refuel the plane and let it go wherever they want to go,8221; Maulvi Akhtar Mohammad Mansoor, the Chief of Civil Aviation of Afghanistan, while talking to a group of journalists in his office at the Kandahar Airport, said. 8220;The progress in this regard the negotiations on Indian side is very slow as they promised us to send a delegation for talks with the hijackers till mid-day, but till evening there is no news about them. So Taliban, who already are cautious regarding their position, have no option but to allow thehijacked aircraft to leave for another country,8221; said Maulvi Mansoor. He said that Anil Khurana the man who had opted to stay in Kandahar despite being freed was angry with the Indian government for failing to tackle the issue urgently and, of course, for the callousness about the very serious situation.

8220;Had the son of an Indian Minister been there among the hostages, the matter would have been resolved within hours,8221; Maulvi Mansoor said, while quoting the Indian passenger. Asked whether the Taliban would allow commando action, if the Indian government wanted it, Mansoor replied: 8220;We do not want to turn the Afghan soil a battlefield8217;.8221;