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India will have to surrender Siachen: ISI ex-chief

Former Inter-Services Intelligence chief Lieutenant General Hamid Gul has said India might have to surrender the Siachen glacier if the intruders and Pakistani Army regulars hold on to their positions in Kashmir for another six to eight weeks.

In an interview with the Pakistan Observer, Lt Gen Gul said, "Then the ground realities will change radically."

Explaining the situation, he said the Indian build-up in Kashmir is to the advantage of the intruders, because the troops will be trapped in the monsoon in the hills, vales and jungles, while for the intruders the terrain is familiar. Nature will then have a "tyrannical influence" on the outcome of the conflict and India will be the loser, he predicted.

Lt Gen Gul, who has bitter views on American policies and the current American stand that the intruders should withdraw from the Kargil sector, countered, "Why should not the Americans withdraw from America? They are not the native dwellers of the land."

He warned that if Indian troops crossed the Line of Control, the International Monetary Fund and World Bank would stand to lose all that Pakistan owes them.

UNI

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The Kargil Crisis

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