Stop insurgency, will talk 8212; India

NEW DELHI, OCT 18: India virtually threw down the gauntlet on Monday on resuming talks with Pakistan, saying it was imperative'' that I...

NEW DELHI, OCT 18: India virtually threw down the gauntlet on Monday on resuming talks with Pakistan, saying it was 8220;imperative8221; that Islamabad first cease cross-border terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir as well as in the rest of the country.

8220;8230;It is imperative that Pakistan should cease its sponsorship of cross-border terrorism in India as a matter of state policy and as yet we see no signs that this is abating. We will judge them by their actions in stopping cross-border terrorism and abandoning hostile propaganda,8221; the ministry spokesman said.

Asked how New Delhi would know that Islamabad has stopped fostering insurgency in India, the spokesman simply said, 8220;When terrorism stops, we will know, Pakistani denials notwithstanding.8221;

For the first time since the end of the Kargil conflict, the end of the sponsorship of terrorism has been made a 8220;condition8221; to return to dialogue. These past months, New Delhi has been refusing to term it as such, only calling it an 8220;ingredient8221; in fostering theright kind of environment for talks.

8220;The steps outlined by Gen. Musharraf confirm that Pakistan is now effectively under what amounts to martial law,8221; the spokesman said. On Musharraf8217;s reported offer that Pakistani troops will be unilaterally withdrawn from the international border, the spokesman said that referred only to additional Pakistani forces, who had been amassed along the border during the Kargil conflict, to return to their barracks.

8220;Attempts, however, at transgressing the Line of Control continue, of which Kargil was an extreme manifestation,8221; he added. The Pakistanis, he said, had still not withdrawn their troops one kilometre within their own territory from the LoC, despite a mutual assurance made by the Directors-General of Military Operations DGMOs of both sides at Attari soon after the conflict ended.

Monday8217;s statement also makes clear that New Delhi will no longer continue to handle Islamabad with kid gloves and that the hard line in the ministry has won out. Through NawazSharif8217;s tenure and despite Kargil, the government had persisted with articulating a desire to return to a 8220;composite dialogue process.8221; That chapter now seems over.

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Government sources pointed out that Sharif had often told the political leadership here that both sides should 8220;take a break from their old positions8221;, that is, India should stop saying that 8220;all of Kashmir is an integral part of India8221; while Pakistan would desist from repeatedly raising the 8220;third-party intervention in Kashmir8221; line.

But in Monday8217;s statement, New Delhi8217;s position on Kashmir seemed even tougher and indicated that it would step up anti-terrorist activities in the state. 8220;A part of the territory of the State is under the illegal and forcible occupation of Pakistan. The State is at the very core of Indian nationhood. The people of the state have shown remarkable resilience and have not been cowed down by Pakistan8217;s campaign of terrorism,8221; the spokesman said.