NEW DELHI, Jan. 24, Reuter: India today advanced its troops in Punjab closer to the Pakistan border and put the army and air force on a state of “Red Alert”.

An Indian Defense Ministry spokesman said the measures, which included sealing off the 450 km (280 miles) frontier between Punjab and Pakistan, were in response to continued mobilization of Pakistani forces all along the common border.

The Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency quoted Indian reports that Pakistan had moved forward its offensive reserves. It estimated that 14 of Pakistan’s 17 deployable divisions were massed on the Indian border.

PTI said senior defense officials had briefed Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on the situation yesterday.

Last Tuesday Gandhi told a news conference in New Delhi, “Our information is that after Pakistani exercises (in October and November) the Pakistani forces did not withdraw like they normally withdraw, and they have remained at the frontline position which has caused us tremendous concern.

“We are trying to figure out why Pakistan has left its force on our border”, Gandhi added.

A spokesman in Islamabad said India’s concerns were unwarranted, alleging that New Delhi’s objective might be to divert attention from its own military exercises.

close to the Pakistan border. Amid a hurried round of diplomatic consultations that included the U.S. and Soviet envoys, India’s Minister of State for External Affairs, Natwar Singh, summoned the Pakistani Ambassador, M. Humayun Khan. But no statement was issued. As letters and telegrams began pouring into the offices of administration officials and American legislature, Indian Foreign Secretary, A.P. Venkateswaran, personally raised the matter, with them during his two day visit to Washington that ended Thursday.

According to informed sources, administration officials cited the repeated violations 750 last year of Pakistan’s air space and territory from the Afghanistan side as justifying Islamabad’s demand for an airborne early warning system.

Last week, the Pakistani community launched a “say yes to AWACS to Pakistan” to present Senators and Congressmen the other side that with the supply of AWACS, a purely defensive system, Pakistan would not pose any threat to the security of India, a militarily powerful country.

Thousands of letters and telegrams have been sent to the concerned quarters detailing Indian acquisition of super sophisticated arms from the Soviet Union and Western European nations, far exceeds its legitimate needs. These letters from Pakistanis, representing all shades of opinion, also appealed to the administration not to supply the super computer to India as it would not only be used in the Indian nuclear facilities but also in technology may fall into Soviet hands.

Pakistani radio and television programme have also been running special items to put the issue in proper perspective with the Third World Broadcasting (TWB) a community programme, taking the lead.

Specialists appearing in these programme have said that without the AWACS support, the advanced Pakistani Air Force F16s could not effectively check intruding Afghan and Soviet aircraft.

Expressing surprise over Indian media blitz they said that instead of American officials and legislatures, the Indian community should write to their own leader, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, to persuade his friends in the Kremlin to immediately withdraw 120,000 Soviet troops from Afghanistan. If that happens, these specialists said, there would be no need for Pakistan to acquire an early warning system.

Faiz Rasul Babar, who runs the TWB, has sent telegrams to President Reagan thanking him for his policy to strengthen Pakistan military and economically in the face of the dangers Pakistan was facing. Babar hoped that the administration would not be swayed by the Indian campaign.

 

Similar telegrams and letters have also been sent by Anwar Shaikh, President of the Pakistan Federation of America and also by heads of other Pakistani associations,

Zakaullah Pirzada, Chairman of the Pakistani Forum, has begun a signature campaign supporting the supply of AWACS to Pakistan.

Article extracted from this publication >>  January 30, 1987