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U.S. 'frustrated' by Pakistan
NEW DELHI, India -- The United States says it is frustrated with Pakistan's failure to stop Islamic militants from crossing into Indian-controlled Kashmir. The statement, from a senior U.S. official, comes as India's Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee embarks on a two-day visit to Kashmir amid renewed violence in the region. "The United States has, for some time, urged the Pakistani government to stop all infiltration across the Line of Control," Richard Haass, director of policy planning for the U.S. State Department, told Indian television channels early Friday in a videoconference from Washington. The Line of Control is the de facto international border that divides the disputed region of Kashmir. "To be honest, we have not succeeded and we are disappointed and frustrated with that reality," Associated Press reports Haass saying. Indian police said Thursday suspected separatist militants ambushed an Indian army patrol in the town of Sopore in central Kashmir. Eight army soldiers were wounded in the attack. Police also reported heavy shelling from Pakistani positions across the Line of Control. They said an elderly man in Kargil town was killed in the shelling and four school-children were injured. And in the town of Magam, also in central Kashmir, a blast killed one policeman and injured 13 others, including an Indian security official. Police said the blast was caused by an "improvised explosive device" planted under a bridge. The U.S. statement on Pakistan came after angry statements from Indian Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha, who has said Pakistan is a "fit case" for preemptive strikes, drawing a parallel with the U.S.-led war against Iraq, AP reports. Brink of warIt was an unusual admission from the United States, which last year succeeded in pulling the two countries from the brink of war after Pakistan promised an end to cross-border strikes by militants. The Indian prime minister will be in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday and Saturday on a mission to promote development in the mountainous state. He is also scheduled to address the first public meeting by an Indian head of government in the region for 16 years. The leading separatist alliance in Kashmir, the Hurriyat Conference, has called for a general strike to coincide with Vajpayee's visit. The Hurriyat says the strike is aimed at drawing attention to the Kashmir problem. Kashmir has been the focus of a 13-year battle by Islamic militants to merge the region with neighboring Pakistan or make it independent. More than 61,000 people, most of them civilians, have died during the fighting since 1989. -- CNN Correspondent Ram Ramgopal contributed to this story Copyright 2003 CNN. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
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