India PM warns Pakistan over Kashmir violence

NEW DELHI -- India's relations with archrival Pakistan "cannot be business as usual" in the wake of a spate of attacks in Kashmir, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Tuesday in a statement that threatens to ratchet up tensions in the wake of the Himalayan violence.

A series of tit-for-tat attacks - including the beheading of an Indian soldier - across the so-called Line of Control that divides the Himalayan region has killed two Pakistani and two Indian soldiers over the past 10 days.

"What has happened is unacceptable," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said of the killing of the two Indians, according to Indian media reports. He made the brief comments to reporters at a New Delhi gathering for India's annual day honoring the military.

The comments come amid increasing political turmoil in Islamabad, with Pakistan's top court ordering the arrest of the country's prime minister in a corruption case, officials said, and a firebrand cleric rallying thousands of people in the capital against the government.

On Monday, Indian army chief Gen. Bikram Singh accused Pakistan of planning the attacks that left the two Indian soldiers dead - making clear he felt it was not an unintentional skirmish - and warned of possible retaliation.

"The attack on Jan. 8 was premeditated, a pre-planned activity. Such an operation requires planning, detailed reconnaissance," Singh told reporters. He said India reserved the right to retaliate at a "time and place of its choice."

Singh urged his troops to be "aggressive and offensive in the face of provocation and fire" from Pakistan. He said the alleged beheading of the Indian soldier was "unacceptable and unpardonable" and accused Pakistan of violating the "ethics of warfare."

India and Pakistan have been rivals for decades, though ties had been improving markedly in recent years. The two have fought three wars since they were carved out of British India in 1947 - two of them over Kashmir. The region is divided between the two countries, but each claims it in its entirety.

While the peace process ground to a halt after the 2008 Mumbai terror attack by Pakistani gunmen, who New Delhi has said were supported by Pakistan's powerful intelligence agency, the two countries have since then worked to mend their diplomatic ties.

The Kashmir fighting, the worst in the region in years, began Jan. 6 when Pakistan accused Indian troops of raiding an army post and killing a soldier. India denied launching the attack and said its troops had fired across the border in response to Pakistani shelling that had destroyed an Indian home.

Two days later, India said that Pakistani soldiers, taking advantage of heavy fog, crossed the de facto border and killed two Indian soldiers, beheading one. On Jan. 10, Pakistan said Indian troops had fired across the border and killed another of its soldiers. The Pakistani army said the shooting was unprovoked, while the Indian military said its troops were responding to fire from across the frontier.

Pakistan denies India's allegations and has suggested U.N. monitors in the region conduct an inquiry - a call that India rejected, saying it didn't want to internationalize the issue.

Pakistan and India struck a cease-fire agreement over Kashmir in November 2003. There have been periodic violations of the cease-fire, but the incidents during the past week have been the most serious.

In Pakistan, Tuesday's Supreme Court order was likely to inflame the already antagonistic relationship between the government and the court. The arrest order for Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf was tied to allegations that bidding on private power stations was marred by corruption. Ashraf had previously served as minister for water and power, said court officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

The arrest order could also provide ammunition for Tahir-ul-Qadri, a Muslim cleric who is leading massive Islamabad protests to press for the removal of the government, which he says is made up of corrupt politicians.

Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/01/15/3183222/india-pm-warns-pakistan-over-kashmir.html

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