"All indications are that the armed forces have been given the go-ahead for limited punitive action against terrorist bases in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK)," said Sridhar (eds: one name), a senior defence expert who recently retired from the Insitute of Defence Studies and Analysis (IDSA).

Founded by an act of parliament, the IDSA is an influential defence strategy think tank.

"A limited military action looks inevitable but it has also been made clear to the forces that this is not a war against the Pakistan army but against terrorists in PoK," Sridhar told AFP.

Diplomats, however, believe India's leaders are still in a political rather than a military mindset and that much of the Indian war-mongering of the past week or so is aimed at pressurising Washington to put the squeeze on Pakistan to clamp down on religious militancy in Kashmir.

Washington on Monday urged the nuclear rivals to keep diplomatic channels open and confirmed Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage would soon visit South Asia.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, meanwhile, called on the rival powers to "exercise maximum restraint to avert a further escalation of tensions."

As part of the diplomatic flurry, US ambassador to India Robert Blackwill called on India's national security advisor Brajsh Mishra Monday evening to discuss the situation and reportedly asked India for "more time to restrain Pakistan."

French ambassador Bernard de Montferrand also called on Mishra, according to reports Tuesday.

Sridhar said while the Indian forces would "strike at a time and place of their choice," some targets had already been identified.

"The Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) have built huge 300-400 bed dormitories in and around Muzaffarabad in PoK," he said.

"If some of these structures are destroyed, the message would be conveyed."

Both LeT and JeM are Pakistan-based militant outfits and are blamed by India for most attacks in Kashmir and elsewhere in the country.

The analyst said Pakistan was unlikely to retaliate and will only end up "increasing the intensity of shelling on the borders, abuse India and make noises at international fora."

Pakistan has already said it fears India is readying to attack "militant camps" in PoK.

Over the past few days, the government has taken a series of steps normally reserved for conflict scenarios. These include bringing the paramilitary forces in Kashmir under direct control of the army and similarly giving the navy the full command of the coast guards and mechant navy.

"This meets a key requirement of war-preparedness and this is a clear signal to Pakistan and the rest of the world that India means business," defence analyst Brahma Chellaney told the Hindustan Times.

And on Monday, the Indian Air Force appointed a hero of the 1965 war against Pakistan, Air Marshal A.R. Ghandhi, as the new Air Officer Commander-in-Chief of Western Air Command -- which controls air combat from Leh in Kashmir to Ganganagar in Rajasthan.

Asked why such steps were being taken, India's hardline Home Minister L.K. Advani reportedly told journalists Monday to read the "War Book" -- a classified document listing guidelines to be followed in the lead-up to war.

Earlier at a function, Advani said the government would have to change its current policy of combatting militancy in Kashmir.

"The government is of firm belief that the way we are retaliating will have to be changed," he said.

earlier related report
India Ups Ante Against Pakistan
Srinagar (AFP) May 20, 2002 - Violence and cross-border firefights escalated in Kashmir Monday, while India further upped the ante against Pakistan by sending its top military officials on a tour of the two nuclear rivals' common frontier.

Analysts said India had in recent days taken steps towards war by increasing its mobilisation in the disputed state and that only decisive measures by Pakistan to halt cross-border terrorism would ease the tensions.

Fears of an all-out confrontation, meanwhile, sent prices on the bourses of both countries plummeting -- the key Karachi Stock Exchange index by 7.4 percent and the Bombay Stock Exchange by 1.5 percent.

It also sent thousands more people fleeing border villages in Kashmir to safer ground.

Islamabad called for increased international efforts to make India "see reason" and begin negotiations, and repeated a long-offered invitation to independent observers to monitor the border.

At the same time, Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf summoned a meeting of his cabinet and the National Security Council (NSC), a top decision-making body, to review the escalation of border tension.

Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, meanwhile, announced he would on Tuesday begin a three-day tour of Kashmir, including the site of a massacre six days ago by Islamic rebels on a military camp near Jammu, the state's winter capital, which left 35 people dead.

The slaughter triggered a rapid deterioration in relations between India and Pakistan, with New Delhi ordering Islamabad's high commissioner (ambassador) out of the country last Saturday.

On Sunday, even as rebels launched further attacks on military camps in Indian-administered Kashmir and the body count rose further, New Delhi announced it was placing all its paramilitary fighters under the command of the army and the coastguard under the command of the navy.

It also warned it would unleash its fire power should Pakistani troops launch attacks across the border.

Analysts said the steps announced by India took the country closer to war.

"They are preparing for war," said Raja Mohan, strategic affairs editor of The Hindu newspaper and an influential political analyst, adding, however, that this eventuality could be averted if Pakistan took decisive action to stamp out cross-border terrorism.

Increasing the build-up of pressure on Monday, India sent Defence Minister George Fernandes, army chief General Sundarajan Padmanabhan and air force chief S. Krishnaswamy to the country's tense western border with Pakistan, where Indian troops are conducting exercises considered provocative by Pakistan.

Defence sources said Fernandes was likely to call a meeting of commanders in the military garrison town of Ganganagar.

"As a part of the ongoing war exercises they will also watch a demonstration of air force fire power," one source said.

Indian and Pakistani troops, meanwhile, continued to pound each other with artillery on Monday for the fourth straight day.

The artillery duels that began on Friday have left two people dead, 23 injured and sent more tham 12,000 people fleeing from border villages, Indian officials said Monday.

Pakistani officials put their own toll at least 10 people dead and more than 50 injured.

On Monday, militants launched four attacks on security forces in the Jammu region alone, killing two security personnel and injuring nine others. All four attacks were claimed by Hizbul, a pro-Pakistan militant group.

Hizbul and another group of militants, Jamiat-ul-Mujahedin, responded to the news of Vajpayee's visit with fresh vows to pursue their fight against Indian rule.

"Hizbul Mujahedin has taken a vow to take the ongoing freedom struggle in Kashmir to its logical conclusion come what may," its chief spokesman Salim Hashmi told AFP by telephone from Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

Indian security officials said the rise in violence was not connected with Vajpayee's trip, and that Kashmir was ready for the premier.

"Kashmir is ready to receive the prime minister," Rajinder Bhullar, a senior officer of India's Border Security Force (BSF) said.

BSF is the main force battling militants across Kashmir.

A western diplomat in New Delhi told AFP he believed India's latest moves were aimed more at pressuring the United States to put the squeeze on Islamabad rather than directly at Pakistan itself.

Izhar Wani contributed to this report from Srinagar

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