National

It is up to the global community to avert war: BJP

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI MAY 30. The BJP today made it clear that it was not willing to be held responsible or accountable for any consequence of war in the region. It stated that "if military action becomes unavoidable'' it was the "international community'' which would be "squarely responsible'' for "failing to take appropriate measures to restrain Pakistan.''

After a meeting of the party's Foreign Affairs cell here at its headquarters, a statement was issued by the general secretary, Sunil Shastri. The burden of the BJP song was that the series of high-profile visits to the sub-continent indicated the seriousness with which the international community viewed the rising tensions between India and Pakistan, that the community was aware of Pakistan's role in exporting terrorism to India, that they must pressure Pakistan to stop this, or else India will have no option other than the military one.

And finally, what was said but not included in the written statement was that if all this resulted in a nuclear holocaust, Pakistan and those who did not restrain it would be responsible. This was said in response to questions referring to the reported threat of use of nuclear force by Pakistan's new Ambassador to the United Nations. "Terrorism concerns us all, especially since it has acquired a nuclear dimension,'' the party stated.

The BJP reiterated that the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf's May 27 speech showed he did not intend to pay heed to the international community. Instead, he defiantly carried out ballistic missile tests. The world was well aware that Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) was linked to `jehadi' terrorist activities. "Pakistan is the epicentre of Islamic terrorism,'' the BJP emphasised.

In the face of all this why was the world community shying away from declaring Pakistan a state sponsoring terrorism, the party wondered. But it also failed to answer why India had not declared Pakistan a terrorist state although the ruling party had only a few days back demanded that the Government consider this seriously.

But finally, it seemed that the BJP had cut back on its earlier war rhetoric. The Government "will do the best it can to exhaust all available options before taking military action''. And it seemed that "all available options'' really boiled down to just one hope — that somehow, someway, the United States, Britain, Russia and others will find a way out by pressuring Gen. Musharraf to make a substantial difference in levels of infiltration and terrorist activity here.

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