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The
brink of war 2001
The 11 September 2001 suicide attacks
in the United States brought a rapprochement between Pakistan
and the West. Pakistan agreed to co-operate with the US's campaign
against Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network and the Taleban rulers
of Afghanistan.
Tension along the line of control continued. The worst fighting
for more than a year broke out in October as India, which continued
to condemn Pakistan for cross-border terrorism, started shelling
Pakistani military positions.
October saw a devastating attack on the Kashmiri assembly in
Srinagar in which 38 people were killed. After the attack, the
chief minister of Indian-administered Kashmir, Farooq Abdullah,
called on the Indian government to launch a war against militant
training camps across the border in Pakistan.
On 13 December, an armed attack on the Indian parliament in
Delhi left 14 people dead. India again blamed Pakistani-backed
Kashmiri militants. The attack led to a dramatic build-up of
troops along the Indo-Pakistan border, military exchanges and
raised fears of a wider conflict.
In January 2002 President Musharraf gave a keynote speech pledging
that Pakistan would not allow terrorists to operate from Pakistani
soil. He again called on the government of India to resolve
the dispute over Jammu and Kashmir through dialogue.
India said it would wait for action to back up his words.
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