International

Chances of Indo-Pak. war high: CIA chief

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

OTTAWA MARCH 20. The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Director, George Tenet, has said the chances of a war between India and Pakistan now are the highest since 1971 and maintained that a conventional war between the two nations could escalate into a nuclear confrontation. It is not the first time that Mr. Tenet has viewed the situation in the subcontinent along such lines. His views reflect the continuing concerns of the Bush administration.

Mr. Tenet appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee that discussed worldwide threats. Also testifying was the Defence Intelligence Agency Director, Admiral Thomas Wilson. "If India were to conduct large-scale offensive operations into Pakistani Kashmir, Pakistan might retaliate with strikes of its own in the belief that its nuclear deterrent would limit the scope of an Indian counter-attack,'' Mr.Tenet said in prepared remarks.

Expressing concern that both India and Pakistan may not have completed the testing of their nuclear weapons and may deploy their most advanced systems without testing, Mr. Tenet said Chinese firms remained key suppliers of missile-related technologies to several countries, including Pakistan, in spite of a pledge to the contrary in November 2000. The senior Bush administration official, while taking note of what has been done internally in Pakistan by its President, Pervez Musharraf, in the last few months, argued that incidents such as the murder of Daniel Pearl only highlighted the kind of challenges faced by the Government in Islamabad in coming to grips with extremists.

"Gen. Musharraf's intention to establish a moderate, tolerant Islamic State, as outlined in his landmark January 12 speech, is being welcomed by most Pakistanis, but he still has to confront major vested interests,'' Mr.Tenet said.

"Gen. Musharraf established a clear and forceful distinction between a narrow, intolerant and conflict-ridden vision of the past and an inclusive, tolerant and peace-oriented vision of the future,'' he said.

Meanwhile in New York, Daniel Pearl' wife, Mariane Pearl, said that she would not allow authorities to forget her husband's case. At the same time, she warned that revenge would not serve any purpose.

"I want justice to be done, that's very important, but revenge is going to bring us to a dead-end,'' she said on Larry King Live on Tuesday night.

Ms. Pearl, who is expecting a child in May, said that she wanted to go back to Pakistan. "Terrorists have not succeeded either in making me hate Pakistan or Muslims,'' she said.

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