India accuses Pakistan of fomenting insurgency

SHILLONG, India, Jan 21: Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee today accused Pakistan of backing separatist rebels in India's troubled north-east, reports AFP.

Vajpayee told chief ministers and governors of India's seven northeastern states in Shillong, capital of Meghalaya state, that Islamabad was covertly supporting militancy in the sprawling region.

"It is now well established that Pakistan is backing some of these (rebel) groups as part of its larger game plan to destabilise India," he said.

"One of the many factors that have impeded economic development in some northeast states is violence unleashed by insurgents and externally aided separatists besides criminals."

Vajpayee said New Delhi and the state governments of the region needed to put up a "concerted effort" to check militancy, adding: "We need a purposeful discussion on the issue... apart from the manner it has affected law and order in the region."

Insurgency in India's tea- and oil-rich far east has claimed more than 25,000 lives over five decades.

India accuses also Pakistan, with which it has fought three wars, of fomenting militancy in the divided northern state of Kashmir where a Muslim secessionist drive in the Indian-administered zone has claimed more than 25,000 lives since 1989. Islamabad denies the charge.

Vajpayee, on tour in the north-east in a bid to end militancy in the region, is being accompanied by Home Minister L.K. Advani, Defence Minister George Fernandes apart from other ministers and bureaucrats.

The prime minister said New Delhi had been assisting militancy-hit states with paramilitary forces and by reimbursing security-related expenditure.

"But, this cannot compensate for the terrible price extracted by insurgents and extortionists at the expense of the region's development," he said.

The seven states together receive an annual grant of 120 billion rupees (2.7 billion dollars) from the central government.

Vajpayee said corruption was also impeding progress.

"Increased funding cannot solve the economic and social problems as we have seen that large sums of money do not find their way to the projects for which they were intended."

Vajpayee is expected to announce a special rehabilitation package for surrendered militants besides working on bringing the 30-odd separatist groups in the region to the negotiating table.

"So far there has been no definite rehabilitation package for surrendered militants and some of the rebels who had laid down arms have once again gone back to the jungles, finding no incentives after surrendering," a government spokesman said Thursday.

"The new rehabilitation package will definitely attract militants to join the mainstream."