The Indian government said Friday that it needed a few more days to determine whether Pakistan permanently has stopped the infiltration of fighters into Jammu and Kashmir state, a key condition for an end to its confrontation with Pakistan.
The timing of India’s assessment would coincide with a visit by U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who is expected to arrive in New Delhi for talks in the middle of next week.
“There is no established trend as yet” that the infiltrations have stopped, Indian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Nirupama Rao said Friday. The previous day, Defense Minister George Fernandes said fighters were still crossing into the disputed territory from Pakistani-held areas.
Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee was encouraged by U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage’s assurance during a meeting between the two Friday that Pakistan had promised “to permanently stop infiltrations,” according to an aide to the Indian leader.
Despite more evidence that diplomacy is working, fiery rhetoric continued between the two nuclear-armed rivals.
The former head of the Pakistani terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, said that his supporters have two nuclear weapons. India called the boast, true or not, proof that Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf is not reining in extremists.
After meeting with Vajpayee, Armitage told reporters that he thought “tensions are a little bit down. I feel very good about the discussions in India.”
But Rao said her government still is not convinced that Musharraf is sincere in his commitment to stopping what India calls cross-border terrorism.
“This assurance has been made in the past but had not been followed up by credible action,” Rao said.
“Therefore, going by past experience, we feel that it is in our legitimate interests to verify such assurances on the ground. And if and when we are satisfied that such assurances have been translated into action, then we can consider reciprocity,” Rao said.
A senior Pakistani official said Armitage had won two concessions from Musharraf during talks Thursday in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. The first was a promise permanently to stop the flow of militants crossing into Indian-controlled territory and not simply open the door again when the heat is off, the Pakistani source said.
The Pakistani president also agreed to “any kind” of independent verification to prove the 1972 cease-fire line that divides Kashmir, called the line of control, is closed to infiltrators, the senior official added.
In return, Musharraf is trying to get a commitment from the United States that it will remain engaged on the Kashmir issue, not just in efforts to defuse the current crisis but in searching for a long-term solution, the source said.