In a lengthy interview with the Hindu newspaper, Musharraf blamed Indian intransigence for the continued border face-off and confessed he could see no way out of the current impasse.

India and Pakistan have massed hundreds of thousands of troops on their common border since an attack on the Indian parliament in December which New Delhi blamed on Pakistan-based militant groups.

India Seeks Over 100 French Mirage Fighter Jets London (AFP) Mar 26, 2002 - The Indian Air Force (IAF) wants to buy more than 100 French Mirage 2000-5 fighter aircraft and has begun discussions with the constructor of the jet, Dassault Aviation, a British weekly defence magazine reported Tuesday. "Official sources in New Delhi said the IAF plans to acquire 126 Mirage 2000-5s to equip seven squadrons that will comprise the backbone of India's proposed strategic nuclear command," said Jane's Defence Weekly. The IAF, it continued, "wants 36 Mirage 2000-5s to be delivered in completed form and the remainder to be assembled by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited in Bangalore." According to the magazine, "Dassault officials in Paris confirmed they were engaged in talks with the IAF for a new order of Mirage jets." The IAF already has about 60 Mirage 2000 (H and TH versions), the same source said. The Mirage 2000-5 is Dassault's latest and most sophisticated model. The magazine noted that "relations between India and France are proliferating with Delhi finalising negotiations to build six Scorpene-class (non-nuclear, diesel powered) submarines locally."

India has ruled out any immediate troop withdrawal, saying Pakistan must first curb "cross-border terrorism" and hand over 20 alleged criminals named in an Indian government list.

Musharraf slammed India's attitude as "offensive" and said Pakistan would never accept being treated "like dirt, as if we are some kind of scum, a very weak country which cannot handle itself."

India has justified its tough stance as part of the international war against terrorism -- a position Musharraf described as unacceptable.

"Neither are we Afghanistan nor should India think it is the United States," he warned.

"We don't crawl. We're not going to crawl," he added.

Musharraf also called for a UN force to be deployed on the disputed Indo-Pakistan border in divided Kashmir to determine the validity of India's claims that Islamabad was continuing to sponsor cross-border terrorism.

"Let the United Nations force be the judge. Certainly, we won't like the Indians to be the judge."

The president said Islamabad had done everything it possibly could to de-escalate the current tensions, including initiating a crackdown on extremist groups, but had yet to receive any positive response from the Indian side.

"I really don't know where to go from here," he said, while adding that Islamabad remained committed to finding a peaceful way out of the current crisis.

"But if India thinks I am saying so because it is going to bleed us, they are sadly mistaken," he said.

Pakistan, China To Build Joint Strategic Sea Port Gwadar (AFP) March 22, 2002 - Pakistan and China formally launched the construction of a strategic deep-sea port on Pakistan's remote south coast Friday, further strengthening Sino-Pakistan relations. China's deputy prime minister Wu Bangguo was on hand to launch work on the port with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf. China is financing the construction of the facility at Gwadar, some 800 kilometers (480 miles) southwest of Karachi, to the tune of 198 million dollars. The total cost of the project is put at 248 million dollars. "Our relationship will keep growing regardless of any international political volatility," the Chinese premier declared. Musharraf said Friday's event signalled a "historic day" in his country's relationship with Pakistan. "Our friendship will grow to new heights," he added. Musharraf said the port will play "a key role" in promoting regional trade. The port, slated for completion in three years, will provide international access to Iran, land-locked Afghanistan, Central Asia and Russia in addition to playing a pivotal role linking South Asian sea trade with the Middle East. "The port will serve as a mother port as it is situated at the mouth of Persian Gulf and the Straits of Hurmuz," Musharraf added. The project, which the president called "a hallmark of Sino-Pakistan friendship," was first mooted during Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji's visit to Pakistan in May 2001. The two states would continue to consolidate economic and political ties in future, Musharraf said. Pakistan will also set up industrial and tax-free export zones in Gwadar to promote commercial activity in the poverty-stricken district. Gwadar is located in southern Baluchistan province, some 120 kilometers (72 miles) east of the Iranian border.

"You want to stay one year or two years or five years on the border, we are prepared to stay five years on the border."

The Pakistani leader said both countries had come dangerously close to war early this year, before he announced a crackdown on alleged religious extremists in a landmark speech on January 12.

"There was a stage when the intention and the capability was also there. That was a critical time," he said.

The spiralling tensions had sparked off worldwide fears of a nuclear conflict and brought a large number of Western leaders to the region, including British Prime Minister Tony Blair and US Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Last month, George Tenet, the director of the US Central Intelligence Agency, said the potential for a war between India and Pakistan was at its highest point for 30 years and warned that a conventional conflict could escalate into nuclear war.

India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir.

Dismissing the elections New Delhi is planning to hold in Indian-Kashmir later this year, Musharraf said Kashmiris did not want legislative polls but a referendum to decide whether they wanted to be part of India or not.

Given the extreme positions of Islamabad and New Delhi on Kashmir, he said the only way forward was an immediate resumption of bilateral dialogue.

"I just don't see any other meeting point. We have to start talking and without any pre-conditions," he said.

Musharraf also said New Delhi was mistaken if it believed an end to "cross-border terrorism" would resolve the Kashmir problem.

"There is an indigenous struggle that is going on. It will continue," Musharraf said.

India accuses Pakistan of arming, training and funding militant groups involved in the 13-year Muslim insurgency against Indian rule in Kashmir which has claimed at least 35,000 lives.

Pakistan denies the charge, but extends open moral and diplomatic support to what it describes as the Kashmiris' just struggle for self-determination.

All rights reserved. � 2002 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.

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