Putting Simla Agreement on hold absolves India of obligation to respect Line of Control

NEW DELHI: Official sources responded to Pakistan's "act of war" statement by saying the outburst showed that those behind it had not thought through the bellicosity, pointing out that putting Simla Agreement on hold had absolved India of any obligation to respect the Line of Control . "In effect, Pakistan is saying that LoC does not exist any more. So now, India can also cross it," a source said.

Sources pointed out that Pakistan's stand would also imply that the agreements on preventing inadvertent nuclear attacks as well as the one on pre-notification of ballistic missile testing are also no longer in force. "This is a shocking step by Pakistan to threaten the whole world with nuclear apocalypse," the source said while also pointing to the rise of "grave misunderstandings".

They called it strange that Islamabad proposed to suspend agreements on cooperation on maritime disasters and telecommunications link which represented pragmatism, and pointed out that suspension of overflight rights to private Indian airlines would result in loss of revenue to Pakistan.

They, however, suspected a design in planning to suspend cooperation against drug trafficking . "Pakistan being a key hub of global trafficking, it seems suspicious that it is walking away from its commitments on the issue," the source said. Sources also took exception to the statement issued subsequently by Pakistan to exempt Indian Sikh pilgrims from certain visa restrictions. "It shows that there is no let up in their attempt to divide the people of India along communal lines," the source added. TNN