| Submit your comments on this article |
| India-Pakistan |
| Pakistan protests India-Britain military exercise |
| 2007-09-25 |
| ISLAMABAD (AFP) — Pakistan said on Monday it had lodged protests with Britain and India over a joint military exercise in the disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir. Britain's Royal Marines last week kicked off 25 days of joint high-altitude exercises with the Indian army in the northern Ladakh region, which is part of Indian-administered Kashmir. Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan each hold part of Kashmir but lay claim to all of it. Kashmir has sparked two of their three wars since independence 60 years ago. "We have sent demarches to both the British government and the Indian government," foreign ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam told a weekly briefing. A demarche is a formal diplomatic representation. "This is not a legitimate activity because Jammu and Kashmir is internationally recognized disputed territory," she said, adding "More than anybody else the British should be aware of it." Britain ruled the Indian subcontinent until 1947 when it was split into Hindu-majority India and mainly Muslim Pakistan. Many here still blame Britain for failing to resolve the Kashmir issue before leaving. Pakistan last week protested to India over a plan to allow trekkers to visit the disputed 6,300-metre (20,800-feet) Siachen glacier in Kashmir, where thousands of troops from both countries are stationed. Aslam stepped up criticism of the move on Monday, saying the Indian presence in Siachen violated a 1972 accord. "The Indian military's aggression into Siachen, its presence there and any activity that it sponsors in this area is illegal," she said. Pakistan would raise the issue during the next round of a slow moving peace process that the two countries launched in 2004, she said. |
| Posted by:john frum |
| #8 Y'all left out the words "live fire" before "exercises". |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-09-25 20:52 |
| #7 "The Paks should have been allowed to participate in the exercises--they There - fixed that for ya', Crusader. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2007-09-25 17:40 |
| #6 The Paks should have been allowed to participate in the exercises--they could have played the role of the enemy. |
| Posted by: Crusader 2007-09-25 17:33 |
| #5 The Paks have previously complained about US special forces exercising in Kashmir. There are photos from airforce exercises where the USAF is clearly over the Himalaya in Kashmir. They go positively livid about reports of India-Israel special forces exercises... |
| Posted by: john frum 2007-09-25 15:40 |
| #4 The Paks see the presence of British troops in Kashmir as legitimizing Indian possession in the eyes of the International community. Especially since India has prevented the UN observers from deploying on its side of the LOC. The UN is present on the Pak side. They have never reported a single terrorist crossing of the LOC. A few decades ago the UN detachment was even caught red handed moving border markers in favor of Pakistan. The Indians have not forgotten and consider the UN force useless. They have placed severe restrictions on where they may go. |
| Posted by: john frum 2007-09-25 15:38 |
| #3 No protests about US/India joint exercises? We are diss'ed! |
| Posted by: 3dc 2007-09-25 13:53 |
| #2 Operation Pulmonary Edema |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2007-09-25 11:09 |
| #1 Why the Pakistanis or anyone else would care enough to protest what the British do anymore is beyond me. After the humiliation of the Royal Navy in the Gulf and the retreat from Basra there is no reason to take us seriously, let alone fear us. If these were military defeats it would be one thing. But these events showed the spine of the British Establishment, media and worse yet the British people no longer has the stomach for a fight. We are done for. God help us but our best hope is the French. |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2007-09-25 09:49 |