INTRUDERS MAKE BELATED WITHDRAWAL; INDIA DOES NOT LET UP

The Indian armed forces announced late last evening that they had finally managed to push out every Pakistani soldier from the Indian side of the Line of Control (LoC). This was after quite a battle, which saw some 15 armed personnel from both sides, losing their lives in the armed conflict. Both Indian and Pakistani troops had lined up in large numbers along both sides of the LoC as artillery fire was exchanged by both sides.

This came after Pakistan continued with its stubborn stance of retaining its troops and militants on the Indian side of the Line of Control in Kashmir. Pakistani intruders made efforts to capture a crucial outpost but were repulsed by Indian forces early in the week. Terrorists killed 19 Indians in Jammu while Indian armed forces shot dead around six soldiers late last weekend. The whole week saw an exchange of fire with the latter trying to make inroads into Indian territory. Some continued to be holed in the Mushkoh valley and had to be flushed out. The army had said that it would be difficult to totally drive out Pakistani intruders in the Dras, Batalik and Mushkoh sectors in Kashmir even late last week.

Western opinion has come out strongly against the Pakistani infiltration with both the US and the UK saying that it should ensure that its troops and the Mujahideen cease their campaign. But this has not perturbed Pakistan in the least. Meanwhile, on the political front, the Janata Dal, a political party, split with one faction choosing to stay away from a new formation that has been worked out. The other grouping choose to merge with two other parties, the Lok Shakti and the Samata Party, to form the Dal. The Dal will continue to be part of the National Democratic Alliance and support any BJP-led government in the forthcoming elections.

The week also witnessed the government's pushing ahead with changes to the telecom policy, shifting the burdened-with-heavy-fees telecom licensees from the licence fee regime to a revenue sharing one. Telecom operators will have to pay 15% of their licence fee arrears to the Department of telecom by 15 August. The caretaker government announced these changes despite reported objections from the Indian President K.R. Narayanan.