India rejects Pak. charge

By Amit Baruah

ISLAMABAD, JAN. 24 The Acting Indian High Commissioner, Mr. Sudhir Vyas, today firmly rejected the Pakistani charge that Indian forces had attacked a Pakistan Army post on Saturday morning. This was conveyed by Mr. Vyas to the Pakistani officials when he was ``summoned'' to the Foreign Office this evening.

When a ``strong protest'' was lodged by Pakistani officials, Mr. Vyas said that, in actual fact, Pakistani troops had launched an attack on an Indian post and had been beaten back. In the process, Pakistani soldiers had left behind the bodies of their colleagues, weaponry and other equipment.

The Acting High Commissioner said that Pakistan was violating the Shimla Agreement on a ``daily basis'' and should desist from such actions. He also said Pakistan was sponsoring terrorism across the border.

In turn, Pakistan officials alleged that the Indian attack in the Chhamb sector was a ``blatant violation'' of the Shimla Agreement and such ``aggressive acts could result in grave consequences for which India would be responsible''.

Pakistan also announced that it had brought the ``attack'' to the notice of the U.N. Secretary-General. In a letter to the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, the Foreign Minister, Mr. Abdul Sattar, requested him to send a ``personal envoy'' to the region to urge India to desist from such ``provocative acts''.

``A formal complaint of the Indian violation of the Line of Control and attack on the Pakistani post has been lodged with the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP),'' an official statement said.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : International
Previous : Hijackers not in Afghanistan, says Mutawakil
Next     : Zargar back in Kashmir