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India will not pull back till infiltration stops: Fernandes
By Sandeep Dikshit
NEW DELHI, JAN. 23. India will not pull back troops from the border till it is convinced that Pakistan is firm on curbing terrorism and shelling on Indian territory. ``It is clear from the beginning that unless they stop infiltration and border shelling, we will not move back,'' the Defence Minister, George Fernandes, said here today.
Apart from cutting off logistical space to terrorists, India wants Pakistan to suspend shelling along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir as a first step towards de- escalating border tension. The build-up on the border, which has been noted with concern by world leaders, was not broached during his wide-ranging talks with American policy-makers. ``The next step cannot be taken till the situation improves,'' he said while interacting with newsmen after a six-day ``very positive and productive'' visit to the U.S. and the U.K.
Asked whether India trusted Islamabad to keep its promise of stopping cross-border terrorism and extradition of criminals and terrorists, he said India had a bad experience in trusting Pakistan. ``But, you have to take a decision according to the situation and today's situation demands improvement before the next step is taken regarding Indo-Pak relations.''
He identified the signing of the bilateral General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) as a crucial development in establishing closer ties - in sharing of intelligence on security, terrorism and investigations into terrorist crimes. The pact prohibits the signatories from revealing confidential information gathered during access to each other's military hardware and processes to third countries.
Mr. Fernandes, who met the U.S. Vice-President, Dick Cheney, the Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, and the National Security Adviser, Condoleezza Rice, was confident that the interaction would catalyse closer ties on military and security- related issues. In defence cooperation, he feels it is a ``very productive visit''. The lifting of the post-Pokhran sanctions and the revival of the institutional mechanism to promote closer interaction at higher levels of the security establishment would lead to `positive results'. ``Defence cooperation between the two countries would now be at much higher lever than ever before''.
Earlier in Washington, Mr. Fernandes dwelt on the military hardware aspect in detail. The lifting of sanctions could give a fillip to the project to indigenously manufacture the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) and allow U.S. firms to bid for high-technology defence projects like anti-infiltration sensors and submarine rescue vehicles.
The Air Forces's pressing need for an Advanced Jet Trainer was the central topic of discussions with the British Defence Secretary, Geoffrey Hoon. Mr. Fernandes was non-committal on the protracted progress on the price front but ruled out that a couple of competitors to the long-standing favourite, British Aerospace's Hawk, were still in the reckoning.
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