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India rejects Pak bid to link Kargil with Siachen

India today rejected Islamabad's contention that the withdrawal of the Pakistani intruders in the Kargil sector of Jammu & Kashmir should be linked to the withdrawal of Indian forces from the Siachen Glacier.

Addressing reporters at the joint briefing of the defence and external affairs ministries, a spokesman for the latter accused Pakistan of "trying to distract attention from the central reality that its intruders should withdraw from the Indian side of the Line of Control".

Pointing out that Siachen is well east of the LoC, he charged Pakistan with seeking to link the two issues to pull out of its commitment to US President Bill Clinton to withdraw its forces from Indian positions in Kargil. "It is part of the Pakistani attempt to confuse the issue," he said.

Underscoring that there is no tangible sign of withdrawal of the intruders, the army's spokesman, Colonel Bikram Singh, said the stiff resistance that the enemy continues to offer makes it obvious there is no intention to withdraw.

The external affairs ministry spokesman said the intruders would have to "find their own way out" and military operations would continue till the last of them had been driven back.

Colonel Singh said Indian artillery fire in the Batalik sub-sector destroyed an ammunition dump of the Pakistani intruders last evening.

The external affairs ministry spokesman told another questioner that there was no question of United Nations mediation in the Kargil conflict.

Asked whether India knew anything about the meeting between Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharief and British Prime Minister Anthony Blair in London yesterday, he said Blair had only told his visitor that Islamabad must withdraw the intruders from Kargil.

The army spokesman said that in the Batalik sub-sector, the Bihar Regiment, in an immaculately executed manoeuvre, captured Point 4268 and Jubar Hill last night. Point 4268 had been partially captured earlier and is the same feature where Major Mariappan Saravanan was killed on May 29. Fierce fighting continues north of Jubar while mopping-up operations are in progress at the captured positions.

Two Pakistani officers have been identified in this sub-sector, Colonel Singh said. They are Major Asim Ahmed, company commander of the 6 Northern Light Infantry, and Captain Syed Asher Mehboob of the 11 NLI.

In the Drass sub-sector, operations to evict the enemy from a spur on Tiger Hill is in progress. A Pakistan Army officer and 10 soldiers have been killed there.

The Kargil Crisis

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