DATE=5/4/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=PAKISTAN-INDIA (L-O)
NUMBER=2-261974
BYLINE=AYAZ GUL
DATELINE=ISLAMABAD
INTERNET=YES
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:


INTRO:  Pakistan is blaming Indian troops for starting 
a new round of firing across a military control line 
in the disputed Kashmir region.  At least a dozen 
people were reported Wednesday to have died in the 
shelling between Indian and Pakistani forces in 
Kashmir.  From Islamabad, Ayaz Gul reports.

TEXT:  A Pakistan foreign ministry spokesman, Tariq 
Altaf, says the Indian attack is aimed at fueling 
tensions in Kashmir. 

            // ALTAF ACT //

      We have always pointed out that it is the 
      Indians who kill the innocent civilians and 
      raise tensions by firing across the L-O-C (cease 
      fire line in Kashmir) with the express purpose 
      of hurting the innocent civilians and raising 
      tensions on the L-O-C.

            // END ACT //

But India blamed Pakistani troops for starting the 
firing, which it says, killed at least six-people in 
its part of Kashmir.  New Delhi says the move aims to 
provide cover for Muslim infiltrators crossing into 
Indian Kashmir.  India is fighting a Muslim insurgency 
in the two-thirds of Kashmir it controls, and accuses 
Pakistan of supporting the insurgents. 

Islamabad denies the Indian charges and says it only 
provides moral and political support to what it calls 
- freedom fighters - in Kashmir.

Last week, Pakistan's military-ruler General Pervez 
Musharraf said he wants to meet Indian Prime Minister 
Atal Behari Vajpayee to discuss the Kashmir dispute.  
But India says talks with Pakistan can be resumed only 
after Islamabad stops what it calls - cross border 
terrorism. 

Pakistani spokesman Altaf rejects any preconditions 
for the resumption of a dialogue: 

            // SECOND ALTAF ACT //

      They (India) have laid down pre-conditions.  We 
      will not hold talks with any pre-conditions.

            // END ACT //

The latest clash in Kashmir is the worst since 
President Clinton visited South Asia in March and 
urged the two countries to resume talks to resolve 
differences.

The Kashmir dispute has caused two wars between India 
and Pakistan.  The dispute pushed them to the brink of 
a third war last summer, when Pakistani-backed 
infiltrators seized strategic heights on the Indian 
side of Kashmir.   (SIGNED)

NEB/AG/RAE



04-May-2000 08:31 AM EDT (04-May-2000 1231 UTC)
NNNN

Source: Voice of America
.