archive: Govt to probe Kargil intrusion
Govt to probe Kargil intrusion
UNI, PTI
Newstime
July 18, 1999
Title: Govt to probe Kargil intrusion
Author: UNI, PTI
Publication: Newstime
Date: July 18, 1999
National security advisor Brajesh Mishra has said the government would
soon institute an inquiry to find out how the Pakistani troops
intruded into the Kargil sector.
Asked whether there was any intelligence failure as the intrusion
remained undetected for some time, Mishra said during a programme on
Star TV that it would come out only after the inquiry was over. "The
government is considering the level at which the inquiry will be
conducted," he said.
Mishra said as per the present assessment the intrusion started
sometime during the second week of April. "It could be that the
intrusion took place earlier."
He dismissed reports that the foreign secretaries of India and
Pakistan would meet in August. He said nothing had been decided so
far and there had been no pressure on India from any quarter.
Mishra said Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's Lahore visit and the
Lahore declaration titled the scales in India's favour in the
diplomatic arena. "It was not only a violation of Line of Control
(LoC), but also violation of the Lahore declaration. Secondly, India
came out as a responsible nation, when it decided to drive out the
intruders, but not cross the LoC," said.
Asked about Pakistan not getting any support from its trusted ally
China, he said Beijing wanted to avoid an Indo-Pak war because then
the western countries would have intervened in South Asia. "For the
last 4-5 years, China had been asking India and Pakistan to solve the
Kashmir issue through bilateral talks, he said.
As regards the US pressure on Islamabad, Mishra said Pakistan and
India were two different cases. In Pakistan different cases. In
Pakistan there was social discontent and worse economic conditions and
their situation was quite different from India.
People here say that the Kargil victory is not India's but America's.
Our jawans fought hand-to-hand in freezing altitudes and recovered 290
bodies of the enemies. We should not underrate ourselves, he said.
Mishra, in a separate interview to Doordarshan said that a conducive
atmosphere was necessary for holding meaningful dialogue with Pakistan
as "we cannot forget Kargil" and the 'betrayal' so soon. "We will not
say no to talks. but a situation has to be created where we feel the
talks would help."
He said the government would take measures to ensure that the Kargil
situation was not repeated by having army presence in the area and
inducting modern technological methods for surveillance and
detection. "There has been no army presence in the area for the last
27 years," he said.
Mishra said India would not accept the internationalisation or third
party mediation on the issue. "Other countries attention towards us
has been drawn, we cannot stop that. But, that does not mean we would
seek third party mediation. No, never."
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