Nation and States  

India plans to raise China dispute
during talks with Pakistan

What is India News Service, July 6, 2004, 1700 hrs IST

India plans to raise the Pakistani transfer of territory to China during its
forthcoming talks with Pakistan, as and when a formal discussion takes place on Jammu and Kashmir.

The issue was not discussed during the June 27-28 Foreign Secretary 
level talks between India and Pakistan in Delhi. A story in The Tribune 
said that was because the "territory issue did not come up at all."

Pakistan and China concluded a boundary "agreement" in 1963. The 
"agreement" was meant to "formally delimit … the boundary between China's Sinkiang 
and the other contiguous areas, the defence of which is under the 
actual control of Pakistan".

In Article 6 of the "agreement", the two parties agreed that "after the 
settlement of the Kashmir dispute between Pakistan and India, the 
sovereign authority concerned would reopen negotiations with the government 
of the People's Republic of China on the boundary..."

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote a note to the Embassy of
India in China on March 25, 1963, describing the agreement as 
provisional. It also stated that "the dispute over Kashmir is solely the 
business of India and Pakistan… in which China will never interfere".

But in March 1963, Pakistan unilaterally ceded a part of the state, 
comprising more than 5,180 sq km, to China, ignoring India's objections. 

Hurriyat uncertainty: Will the Hurriyat Conference and the UPA 
government continue to talk? 

Uncertainty hangs over the talks as the separatist amalgam is unlikely 
to agree with the Centre's view that the dialogue would be carried 
forward within the framework of Indian Constitution.

Hurriyat leaders said talks could move forward after the Centre made 
its policies clear and spelt out the agenda. 

Natwar's Pakistan visit: Mr K. Natwar Singh will be making his maiden 
visit to Pakistan as India's External Affairs Minister on July 19 during 
which he is likely to meet Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf as well 
as new Prime Minister Chaudhary Shujat Hussain, sources said today.

Bomb blast: One person was killed and 18 injured in a massive bomb 
blast in Srinagar early Saturday morning.

The blast took place at the tourist reception centre, a short distance 
from Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed's official residence. It was 
planted in a handcart.

The militant strike came just days after Director General of Police 
Gopal Sharma declared that the city had been sanitised from militants' 
threat. "We have busted the Lashkar-e-Taiba module. The people can now heave a 
sigh of relief," Sharma had told reporters. No militant group has yet claimed 
responsibility.

Musharaff meets US senators: Pakistan president General Musharaff met 
a two-member delegation from the US and discussed the multi-year 
assistance package starting October 2004. He said it was in Pakistan's national interest to dismantle the terrorist network and get rid of outsiders trying to misuse the country's territory. 

Swedish perspective: "The Kashmir dispute has to be resolved for the 
establishment of lasting peace in the region," Musharraf told reporters after three and a half hours of formal talks with Swedish premier Persson near Stockholm. 

Persson told newsmen that Sweden welcomed the Pakistan-India peace 
process, stressing that "it must move ahead". The Kashmir issue, he 
said, needed to be resolved for long-term stability and economic 
development of South Asia.Musharraf said three parties were involved in the 
dispute: Pakistan, India and the people of Kashmir. 

Blast injures 30: At least 30 persons including three security force personnel, were 
injured, 10 of them seriously, in a grenade explosion in Anantnag town this 
afternoon.

Inspector General of Police K Rajendra told reporters that the 
incident, ahead of the Amarnath Yatra, was aimed at disturbing the peace. He 
said security would be further beefed up to thwart the designs of the 
militants.

Afghanistan may change law: Afghanistan's government could amend 
legislation in order to hold presidential elections as planned in September. 
The country was due to organise its first post-Taliban elections in June but they were delayed for three months for logistic reasons amid persistent threats from ousted fundamentalist militia.

Under current Afghan law, the government must announce election day 90 
days in advance, which means even if announced immediately the earliest 
elections could be held first week of October.

No let-up, says Taliban: Taliban has vowed to continue jehad and not miss 
any opportunity to oust the occupation coalition forces from Afghanistan.

"We will not care about our lives and we want to destroy our enemy," 
Taliban spokesman Abdul Latif Hakimi told Radio Tehran Pushto service. 

He said the Taliban were fighting against all killers of Muslims, whether government favoured groups or the government.

Soldiers kill 12: US led coalition forces and Afghan army soldiers have killed at 
least 12 suspected Taliban militants in a joint operation, including a man 
thought to be a top commander of the militia, a foreign news agency reported on Saturday.

The operation was launched Friday after insurgents fired rockets on an 
Afghan National Army post in southeastern Zabul province's Day Chopan 
district, about 300 kilometers (190 miles) southeast of Kabul.

Search for killer: Fifteen months after the murder of their daughter, 
Hillary and Trevor Foster of Hampshire plan to travel to India next week 
to track down the suspected killer, Maninder Pal Singh Kohli, a 
sandwich delivery driver who disappeared from his home in Southampton, shortly 
after Hannah Foster's body was found.

Rockbottom airfares: This could be the mother of all price wars. Deccan 
Aviation, India's first no-frills carrier, will offer tickets for as 
little as Rs 500 on the Delhi-Mumbai route once it starts flying on this 
sector later in the month. 

"We will be offering various price bands and the lowest ticket price in 
this sector will be Rs 500," said G R Gopinath, deputy chairman, Deccan 
Aviation, speaking at a two-day symposium on low-cost airlines in New 
Delhi on Monday. 

Tribal assurance: Tribes inhabiting the Shakai valley on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border agreed on Monday to provide protection for security forces operating in the area. 

The agreement came about following mediation by senator Faridullah with 
six tribes in the Shakai valley. Authorities in South Waziristan were 
demanding that the tribes furnish guarantees worth Rs 40 million to 
protect security forces against any attack and that they deny shelter to foreign 
militants. 

Six tribes, four of them from the Ahmadzai Wazirs - Khuniakhel, 
Shudiaki, Sperkai and Khojalkhel - and two from the Utmankhels - Malak Shahi 
and Miami Kabulkhel - offered 20 Kalashnikovs each as a token of their 
guarantee. 

Pakistan buys Libyan planes: Pakistan has purchased a fleet of 
Mirage fighter jets and spare parts from Libya. "Libya had a Mirage fleet 
that was grounded for over a decade. We have purchased that fleet at a 
very reasonable price," Air Commodore Sarfraz Khan said on Monday. 

He did not specify the price or the number of aircraft in the fleet, 
but press reports suggested the purchase included 50 jets and 150 
engines. 

All the jets will be scrapped for spare parts to maintain the country's 
existing Mirage fleet. 

Britain closes HC after terror threat: The British High Commission in 
Islamabad hastily closed down its operations on Monday after it 
received a warning from its intelligence outfit in London of a possible 
missile attack.

Informed sources told Dawn the British High Commissioner Mark Lyall 
received the intelligence calling for immediate evacuation of the high 
commission around 11.15 am when he was in a meeting. 

The warning was confirmed later in the evening when the US embassy also 
announced that its visa section would remain closed "because of a 
threat to the diplomatic enclave". 

The 600-plus staff members of the British High Commission, including 
the local hires, were asked to leave immediately. They were told that due 
to an impending security threat the High Commission would remain closed 
till further notice, sources said. 

Ahluwalia takes charge: Economist Montek Singh Ahluwalia took charge as 
the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission and said the previous 
NDA Government had neglected agriculture and infrastructure.

LTTE shoot-out: Gunmen killed a Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam man 
and wounded three others, including a ``political officer,'' in 
northeastern Sri Lanka on Monday, even as the rebels honoured the legacy of 
their suicide bomber squad by observing "Black Tiger Day" in some 
Government-controlled areas. 

Overall:

India will raise territory question: Pakistan's transfer of Kashmiri land to China is likely to come up when India and Pakistan meet in August.

Violence in Kashmir continued: Four days after the police said they had smashed the Lashkar-e-Toiba, militants struck near the chief minister's house.

Pakistan bought Libyan planes: It negotiated and bought a fleet that Libya had grounded for over a decade.

Britain closed high commission in Islamabad: Threat of a missile attack prompted the indefinite closure.