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May 13, 2002
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Defence ministry report slams Pakistan

Josy Joseph in New Delhi

The defence ministry's annual report, released on Monday, has accused Pakistan of unwillingness to give up its strategy of "confrontation, violence and deception towards India".

The report -- released hours before US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Christina Rocca's arrival in New Delhi -- is usually a lacklustre take on India's security concerns. But this year it is different.

Rocca, who is also scheduled to visit Pakistan, will try to solve the standoff between New Delhi and Islamabad. She will call on External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh, Defence Minister George Fernandes, National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra over the next two days.

The report says Pakistan has been "found to be an epicentre of Islamic fundamentalism and her actions had added a new dimension to state-sponsored terrorism".

It says Pakistan has been the primary source of arms and ammunitions to Kashmiri militants and is continuing with its policy of sponsoring terrorism in other parts of India.

To counter such threats, "India had to deploy army on internal security duties in Jammu and Kashmir", it says.

"The continued terrorist violence underscored the fact that Pakistan remains unwilling to give up its strategy of confrontation, violence and deception towards India."

Despite denials by China, there are reports of transfer of missile parts and technology to Pakistan in the year 2001, the report says. As in the past, the report also accuses China of occupying India's 38,000 square kilometres of territory.

The report claims "qualitative improvement" in India's relations with Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Maldives and Sri Lanka. While there have been some "minor irritants" in relations with these neighbours, "they have been tacked with maturity and in a spirit of accommodation", it says, and adds that India foresees no security problems with them.

The report says Central Asia remains an area of "political and strategic importance for India", and adds that India's interest in the region is "enduring and there is immense potential for cooperation with Central Asian republics".

Referring to relations with Japan, the report says the two nations have agreed to hold military-to-military dialogues annually. It says defence exchanges between the two countries are a positive factor for the maintenance of peace and stability in the region.

However, the report has expressed serious concerns about the security situation in Indonesia, the Philippines and Papua New Guinea. It also points out that though elections were held in Fiji last September, a constitutional government is yet to be established there and this has adversely affected participation of all sections of the Fijian society in the government.

On Indo-US relations, the report says there has been considerable progress after a three-year period of limited contacts. Resumption of the Defence Policy Group and the Joint Technical Group has been supplemented by the addition of new elements to this structure, such as the Security Cooperation Group to manage the defence supplies relationships between the two countries.

The lifting of sanctions, imposed in the wake of Pokhran tests in 1998 by the US, has paved the way for further development of economic, military and technology relations between the two countries, it says.

India and the US have taken a number of new initiatives to build counter terrorism capacity, including military-to-military cooperation.

The report also points out that India's security parameters extend beyond its conventional geographical borders. Given India's size, location, trade links and exclusive economic zone, its security environment extends from the Persian Gulf in the west to the Straits of Malacca in the East and from the Central Asian Republics in the north to the equator in the south.

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