India unleashing vicious campaign, says Pakistan

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, SEPT. 20. Relations between India and Pakistan, already under strain following the blame game in the wake of Agra summit, nose-dived further as Pakistan accused India of exploiting the situation arising out of the terror attacks on U.S.

Taking a leaf from the Pakistan President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, the Foreign Office spokesperson today accused New Delhi of unleashing a ``vicious and relentless propaganda'' to malign Pakistan and said it did not augur well for normalisation of ties between the two countries. In his address to the nation on Wednesday, Gen. Musharraf had virtually accused India of hatching a plot to get Pakistan declared a terrorist state and install an anti-Pakistan Government in Afghanistan.

The spokesperson said while Islamabad was keen on improving relations with India, the Musharraf regime was disappointed with the attitude of the Vajpayee Government. ``Just look at the Indian media. Day in and day out you find propaganda to malign Pakistan. This kind of propaganda is not conducive for betterment of relations.'' Defending the phrase ``lay off'' used by Gen. Musharraf in his address, he said it should be understood that it had come from a soldier and a straightforward person. The view among the diplomatic corps here is that Gen. Musharraf had attempted to play the so-called India card to sell the difficult decision of his Government to side with the U.S. and ditch its old ally, the Taliban.

``Rhetoric from some of the leaders in the ruling establishment in the last few days has helped Gen. Musharraf to try and play to the gallery in his hour of crisis. He tried to convey (in his address) that Pakistan was faced with a choice between Ks (Kabul and Kashmir) and it chose the latter'', a diplomat said.

It is not clear at this juncture as to how far Gen. Musharraf has succeeded in convincing the pro-Taliban elements on the compulsions behind the shift in its Afghan policy. But there are no opinions that Kashmir is an emotive issue in Pakistan and successive regimes have played on the theme to suit their interests.

On whether the case of Kashmir amounted to `state- sponsored terrorism', the spokesperson said, ``it is there. The Kashmiri people are facing repression in their five- decade-long struggle to achieve their right to self- determination''.

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Section  : International
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