Benazir vetoed Kargil-style operation in '96

Benazir vetoed Kargil-style operation in '96
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

LONDON, FEBRUARY 8: Benazir Bhutto has said that during her time as prime minister, the Pakistani military tried to persuade her to authorise a Kargil-style operation in Kashmir, but she vetoed the proposal.

In an interview with the BBC World Service radio, the former Pakistani prime minister called for an ``open-borders'' policy with India, and said she would be willing to visit Kashmir herself as part of such a process. The interview was conducted in London by the BBC's Andrew Whitehead, for the final programme in the series, India: A People Partitioned.

In the interview, Bhutto revealed that the army proposed a Kargil-style operation in the beginning of 1996. ``Yes. I was invited to a briefing at the general headquarters. And in front of about 50 or 60 officers, I was given a briefing with maps, screen slides,'' she said. ``And at the end of the briefing, I vetoed it.''

Bhutto said that time has come to have ``open borders, open exchanges, to free out people''.

``I would like to see Indiaand Pakistan open their borders between Kashmir while the Indians have their assembly there, and we have our assembly, without prejudice to our positions on the Security Council resolutions. These assemblies could then meet amongst themselves to monitor the line and to prevent militancy and so on, and ultimately they could decide whether they want to be two assemblies with a supra-assembly or whether they want to come together in one assembly,'' she said. ``But first, if we can put aside our prejudices, begin to open up, then we'll look at things differently, and ultimately everything is how you see it.''

She also said that she would like to visit Kashmir. ``I don't like the fact that it's ruled by Delhi. I know the people of Kashmir are unhappy and have given untold sacrifices. But I would like to go tomorrow if I could,'' she added.