Confrontation between India & Pakistan

The international society is mediating between India and Pakistan to prevent a war, but heads of both countries exchanged verbal attacks on June 4, the opening day of the Asian summit, refusing to budge an inch from their previous positions.

Therefore, the U.S. is going to send Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage to Pakistan and India on June 6 and 7 and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on June 8 to make an active intervention.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Jiang Zemin met the two heads of state respectively to urge a peaceful solution of the current crisis on June 4.

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf said in his opening address to the summit in Amaty, Kazakhstan, “We do not want a war. But if a war breaks out, we will be determined to protect ourselves.”

In his seat just 5m away from Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the Pakistan President condemned India, “People in South Asia are paying a very high price due to India that ignored a UN resolution urging a peaceful settlement of Kashmir conflicts.”

Against the condemnation, the Indian Prime Minister argued that Pakistan repeatedly threatened to use nuclear weapons and that the neighboring country should not be allowed to be a hotbed of terrorist groups in this region.

He directly pointed fingers at Pakistan, saying that the cause of conflicts in the region is a ‘borderless terrorism’ and that his country would not give support to any ones who believe in terrorism or religious extremism.

The foreign press reported that the two heads of state had kept their mouths shut with hardened faces when their counterpart had delivered a speech. After the summit, they did not shake hands with each other.

Meanwhile, military of the two countries resumed firing on each other in Kashmir on June 4. The number of casualties was not available immediately.

Ki-Hyun Kim kimkihy@donga.com