Pakistan Accepts Soldiers' Bodies, Disputes Indian Version of Events


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BBC News Online: World: South Asia

Sunday, June 6, 1999 Published at 14:17 GMT 15:17 UK


Kashmir bodies dispute rages on

Pakistan has denied that three of its soldiers killed in Kashmir were
fighting in the Indian-administered sector of the disputed territory.

Kashmir Conflict India said it had recovered the bodies of the three
Pakistani regular soldiers well inside Indian-held territory in the
province.

Pakistan accepted the bodies from India in a ceremony conducted with
full military honours on Saturday.

India resumed air strikes against "intruders" on Sunday - the 12th day
of its operations. There had been an operation lull in air raids on
Saturday.

India also responded to reported comments by Pakistan Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif that war between the two countries could not be ruled
out.

An Indian spokesman said: "This is not an assessment we share."

'Killed in ambush'

Pakistan insisted that the men whose bodies were handed back had been
killed in an ambush by Indian troops on the Line of Control which
divides Kashmir. It said the men had been patrolling the line and had
not been in the Indian sector of the region.

It said the incident happened nearly a week ago.

The head of the Indian army in Kashmir, Brigadier Arun Chopra, said
the discovery of the bodies was "clear proof of Pakistani intrusion in
our territory".

A military spokesman in Islamabad described the Indian claim as
regrettable, baseless and false.

At a news conference on Saturday, Brigadier Chopra displayed weapons
and clothing said to belong to the dead men, saying they were from
Pakistan's 3rd and 4th northern light infantry.

He said they had probably been killed by artillery fire in the Batalik
district, where some of the heaviest fighting of the recent
confrontation has taken place.

India launched air raids last month against what it said were armed
infiltrators backed by Pakistan.

Pakistan has always denied that its soldiers have either crossed the
Line of Control, or more particularly, that its regular troops are
supporting the militants.

War of words

At a three-hour cabinet meeting on Saturday, Pakistani ministers
reiterated that Pakistan would retaliate if there were any violations
of its air space and territory.

On Saturday, India rejected Pakistan's proposal that Foreign Minister
Sartaj Aziz visit Delhi on 7 June for talks to try to defuse tension.

A foreign ministry spokesman told reporters that the Indian ministry
of external affairs had "informed the Pakistan High Commission that
the date is not convenient".

Earlier, Indian military officials in Jammu and Srinagar said
journalists would no longer be able to travel freely on the northern
Kargil highway.

 
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