A response to the Vancouver Sun Contrary to your editorial, Pakistan has not occupied any Indian territory (A nuclear offer the world needs, July 4), The state of Jammu and Kashmir is all disputed territory whose future is to be decided through a plebiscite under the auspices of the United Nations.
Instead of allowing the plebiscite, India has annexed! The area and asserts that it constitutes an integral part of its territory.
Since 194748 the Kashmiris have on several occasions expressed their rejection of Indian occupation, In 198990 the present phase of Kashmin struggle for self-determination began.
‘The reign of terror and repression unleashed by India to crush the struggle has resulted in gross and systematic violations of human rights documented and denounced by major human rights organizations such as Amnesty International, Asia Watch, Physicians for Human Rights and the Federation of International Human Rights.
India exploded a nuclear device in 1974, possesses over S00 kgs of we sponsored plutonium and rejects every initiative for a regional nonproliferation regime. It has recently ordered 80 nuclear capable ballistic missiles named “Prithvi” for deployment against Pakistani strategic and military assets: Once these missiles are in place, not a single major city in Pakistan will be saving from their reach. India has never offered an agreement covering non firsts of nuclear weapons. It has obliquely referred to a nonuse of “capability.”
If India is sincere in wanting to remove “the stumbling block” to nonproliferation, it should accept the numerous proposals for nonproliferation offered by Pakistan.
India should also make a practical demonstration of its sincerity to predict its citizens.
A.Singh, Canada
Article extracted from this publication >> September 9, 1994
