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Now, Jethmalani talks of free passage

India would have to contemplate the means of providing safe passage to the intruders if Pakistan agrees to the Indian condition of withdrawing its army regulars and others from the Kargil sector within a specified period of time, the Union Law Minister, Ram Jethmalani said here today.

Reacting to the suggestions that India must be aggressive in dealing with Pakistan, Jethmalani said: ''We should not retaliate to the provocation of the Pakistan army. We will act as per the rules of the civilisation.''

Justifying Defence Minister George Fernandes' utterances on the safe passage and ignorance of Pakistan political leadership about its army adventurism, the law minister said that Pakistan is becoming a rotten nation with a collapsed economy. He added that the Kargil adventure would have its own impact on a declining nation.

''We could have prevented Kargil from illegal occupation but it would have cost India billions of dollar in posting army pickets in the snow desert. Besides, several army personnel would have become casualties in the adverse conditions over there,'' he said.

UNI

The Kargil Crisis

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