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After Himalayan avalanche, many in Pakistan call for patching ties with Ind

StormShadow

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ISLAMABAD — The probable loss of an entire garrison of Pakistani troops to a Himalayan avalanche on the country's disputed border with India has firmed national support for settling the longstanding political disputes between the nuclear-armed neighbors.

In particular, the avalanche has refocused the attention of Pakistanis on the futility of posting thousands of troops on the Siachen Glacier, where 6,200 troops have died since it notoriously became the world's highest battlefield in 1984. Ninety percent of the troop deaths were due to hypothermia and other climate-related ailments, according to peace activists.

The Pakistani military has all but acknowledged the deaths of 124 mountain soldiers and 11 civilians, whose garrison at an altitude of some 16,000 feet was buried under 80 feet of snow early Saturday. The military's spokesman, Gen. Athar Abbas, has asked the Pakistani public to "pray for a miracle."

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani effectively signaled the government's acceptance of the massive loss, offering the Muslim fateha prayer — offered for the dead — for the soldiers at a meeting of the federal Cabinet on Wednesday.

Some 240 rescue workers, using detection dogs, earthmoving machinery and shovels, have braved subzero temperatures and blizzards since Sunday to work around the clock to find the men of the Northern Light Infantry buried alive at the Gayani garrison.

An eight-member U.S. search-and-rescue team joined the increasingly desperate efforts this week as infantry troops and earth-excavating machinery dug five tunnels into the snow in attempts to detect survivors, but to no avail. No bodies have been recovered, either.

The tragedy coincided with a one-day visit to India on Sunday by Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, the first in seven years by a Pakistani president, ostensibly for a pilgrimage to a Sufi shrine in the northwest Indian city of Ajmer. Politics trumped spirituality, however, with Zardari and his son first stopping in New Delhi for a lunch with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and top officials of the ruling Congress Party.

The cordial meeting, coming against the tragic backdrop of the avalanche, has sparked calls from across Pakistan's political spectrum for the acceleration of negotiations with India, with which it has fought four wars since the countries gained independence in 1947.

Opposition leader Nawaz Sharif set aside a war of words with Zardari to voice support earlier this week for improving relations with India and resolving their dispute over the disputed territory of Kashmir, where the glacier is located.


Sharif was particularly supportive of the president's suggestion that India's world champion cricket team should tour Pakistan.

"I am ready to do my part in reviving ties. ... I want to be part of the Pakistani team when India comes to play," joked Sharif, a cricket enthusiast.


Politicians from Pakistan's ruling coalition government have called on India to accept its proposal to "demilitarize" the Siachen Glacier. Defense officials from both countries discussed proposals in May 2011, but the talks stalled after India insisted that Pakistan first recognize its troop positions so that Pakistani forces would not subsequently occupy them.

"What we want is the honorable withdrawal of forces to pre-1984 positions," said Qamar Zaman Kaira, spokesman for Zardari's Pakistan Peoples Party.


Pakistan and India had in 2006 come close to reaching an agreement on their core disputes over Kashmir, said Khurshid Kasuri, Pakistan's foreign minister at the time. The process was scuttled, however, by the Pakistani militant organization Lashkar-i-Taiba, which later launched a four-day killing spree in Mumbai, India's largest city, that cost 166 lives. :hitwall:

Peace talks were tentatively resumed last year after Singh invited Gilani to watch the Pakistani team play a semifinal match in the cricket world cup in India.


In the absence of agreement on any substantial political issues, talks on reducing trade restrictions have taken the lead. Prodded by its closest ally, China, Pakistan agreed in December to remove restrictions on Indian imports of fresh produce, petroleum products and newsprint. Both countries have agreed to remove restrictions on most other goods by the end of 2012.

Indian and Pakistani trade ministers on Friday are expected to open a dedicated trade facility at a border post located between the cities of Lahore and Amritsar. And interior ministry officials on both sides are scheduled to meet later this month to approve a new, streamlined process for issuing business visas.


After their meeting Sunday, Zardari and Singh told reporters that they had discussed "all possible issues" over delicacies that included gushtaba, meatballs from Kashmir. They agreed to work toward talks on the less controversial aspects of their bilateral relationship, and Singh accepted Zardari's offer to visit Pakistan this year.

But Singh is adamant that talks on the countries' core disputes, particularly Kashmir, hinge on Pakistan taking action against Lashkar-i-Taiba and its founder, Hafiz Mohammad Saeed.

The U.S. Justice Department last week offered a $10 million reward for information leading to Saeed's arrest or conviction, in a move that was widely seen as increasing pressure on Pakistan. But the Pakistani government has said it cannot act against Saeed because Pakistani courts — which have a fierce independent streak — acquitted him in 2009 of involvement in the Mumbai attacks.

"The problem of terrorism ... is a major issue by which the Indian people will judge progress in the bilateral relationship," India's foreign secretary, Ranjan Mathai, told reporters after the meeting between Singh and Zardari.

(Hussain is a McClatchy special correspondent)

After Himalayan avalanche, many in Pakistan call for patching ties with India - World News | Tri-City Herald : Mid-Columbia news
 
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in 2006 when Kasuri was in India Indian terrorists in indian army killed dozens of innocent Pakistanis in Samjhota inccident still Pakistan continued the peace talks with india.........

& now i think Pakistan shold act more maturely & dont expect that india will be intrested in peace.....

& as usual Pakistan is trying for peace & pres Zardari visit india for the same.
 
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Indian media...and the pro Indian Pakistani media milking the situation.
they should be ashamed of doing politics on other peoples tragic death.
 
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in 2006 when Kasuri was in India Indian terrorists in indian army killed dozens of innocent Pakistanis in Samjhota inccident still Pakistan continued the peace talks with india.........

& now i think Pakistan shold act more maturely & dont expect that india will be intrested in peace.....

& as usual Pakistan is trying for peace & pres Zardari visit india for the same.

and too the blame was put on pakistan for samjhita express :lol:

i dont believe that LET did the mumbai drama, ajmal kasab is not even pakistani, indians are even trying to link this to ISI
 
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R.I.P to the dead 150 soldiers...their posts will be taken by another 150 pakistani soldiers..and they'll guard the glacier. may god save them from such accidents in future.
 
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^^
Don't you guys ever get tired of this kasab-is-not-pakistani, osama-is-not-in-pakistan kind of rhetoric that has made you a big joke on the world stage? I can only marvel at the psyche of a nation that has to live in such absolute denial. Must be frustrating.
 
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R.I.P to the dead 150 soldiers...their posts will be taken by another 150 pakistani soldiers..and they'll guard the glacier. may god save them from such accidents in future.

Agreed, RIP,

The life should go on, after all for some, glaciers are precious then human life.
 
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Gotta hand it to the Pakistanis. They constantly compare Purohit to Hafiz Saeed. Except for the small matter than Purohit has been in jail for quite a while now while Hafiz Saeed roams around freely.

They just don't get the point. Whenever an Indian has indulged in terror he has been caught and tried and punished. And thats how they even get to know about the said terrorists. But in pakistan terrorists live in mansions in military cantonments, with several wives and children, and maybe grandchildren, until foreign commandos have to come and finish them off. Cricketers attend their daughters' marriages. Funeral processions are taken for terrorists. Despite this HUGE difference in culture, they desperately try to draw parallels with the one or two indian terrorists who are in jail, as if to reassure themselves that india is as bad as pakistan. They don't fool even themselves with that attitude.

Sometimes this denialism can take amazing heights. Even when al qaida acknowledged osama's death on pakistani soil, pakistanis here didn't believe it happened. Even when their prime minister, president, information minister publically and officially accepted kasab and the other 10 terrorists were trained in and came from pak, even after kasab's parents admitted it in his hometown, some pakistanis cant accept the fact. Well, you cant blame them. Who wants to accept that his country's biggest export is brainwashed jihadis, and thats the only thing his country is famous for?

Thats what they will be saying 10 years from now, when the next most wanted terrorist is roaming around in pakistan - "oh but there is a purohit in india". Not understanding the fact that purohit is in jail, while in pakistan terrorists are celebrities.
 
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"Rescue operations in the avalanche-striken pakistani garrison at Siachen Glacier futile"

Quick reaction is what is required in such situations. Just look 130 troops died for this now, atleast
a few of them could have been saved if pakistan had a high-altitude chopper like Dhruv that
could ferry in logistics/personnel to really high altitudes to support such rescue operations when
emergency ops are to be executed.





Dhruv has been solved of all problems/defects and now is the most versatile platform for IA
to support high-altitude missions.

Ferrying in troops/vehicles/rescu workers by road is not all an efficient way of supportng rescue ops,
a versatile chopper is required, i think its high time pakistan realizes that.

If differences between Ind. and Pak. and patched up, then i think a sale of the versatile Dhruv to pakistan
could be within the interests of India.

The Dhruv Advantage
Always Mission-Ready


How was the brochure??
 
.
"Rescue operations in the avalanche-striken pakistani garrison at Siachen Glacier futile"

Quick reaction is what is required in such situations. Just look 130 troops died for this now, atleast
a few of them could have been saved if pakistan had a high-altitude chopper like Dhruv that
could ferry in logistics/personnel to really high altitudes to support such rescue operations when
emergency ops are to be executed.





Dhruv has been solved of all problems/defects and now is the most versatile platform for IA
to support high-altitude missions.

Ferrying in troops/vehicles/rescu workers by road is not all an efficient way of supportng rescue ops,
a versatile chopper is required, i think its high time pakistan realizes that.

If differences between Ind. and Pak. and patched up, then i think a sale of the versatile Dhruv to pakistan
could be within the interests of India.

The Dhruv Advantage
Always Mission-Ready


How was the brochure??
they must have tried for Indian help in recon missions .
 
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That is what i was saying all through no need to talk or give concision to pakistan.

Just wait and watch everything will be settled in due course.

At our terms, off course or we won't settle it. :wave:

I don't believe PM MMS when it comes to pak so better be vigilant.
 
.
"Rescue operations in the avalanche-striken pakistani garrison at Siachen Glacier futile"

Quick reaction is what is required in such situations. Just look 130 troops died for this now, atleast
a few of them could have been saved if pakistan had a high-altitude chopper like Dhruv that
could ferry in logistics/personnel to really high altitudes to support such rescue operations when
emergency ops are to be executed.





Dhruv has been solved of all problems/defects and now is the most versatile platform for IA
to support high-altitude missions.

Ferrying in troops/vehicles/rescu workers by road is not all an efficient way of supportng rescue ops,
a versatile chopper is required, i think its high time pakistan realizes that.

If differences between Ind. and Pak. and patched up, then i think a sale of the versatile Dhruv to pakistan
could be within the interests of India.

The Dhruv Advantage
Always Mission-Ready


How was the brochure??

Good, but China will just make a fake copy of the Dhruv helicopter and sell it to Pakistan at a cheaper price.
 
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