Monitor: India and Pakistan comment on the airstrikes against guerrillas in Kashmir

All the News of the World: Indian and Pakistani comment on the airstrikes against guerrillas in Kashmir

IN 1947 and in 1965, Islamabad tried to take India by surprise in Kashmir; on both occasions Pakistan had to come to terms with failure. This time, too, their calculations to catch India unawares by cutting the Leh-Srinagar road have failed. The Pakistani army must accept that and defuse the situation. Any attempt at escalation will have adverse impact on both countries. While India will be hurt, Pakistan will be ruined. Mr Nawaz Sharif should understand that simple bottom line and exercise greater control over his unruly army.

Times of India

THE NEED is for the governments in Islamabad and New Delhi to see reason. It is also important that the Kashmir issue should be taken up in real earnest to find a political settlement to this long-standing dispute. Such running sores can become flashpoints when left unresolved for long. Kashmir has been a hot spot since 1947. It has led to two wars between India and Pakistan. It is time now to try to resolve it once and for all.

Dawn, Pakistan

THE TWO sides must agree to co-operation. Pakistan must desist from sponsoring cross-border terrorism. As long as it continues to provide moral and physical support to militants in Kashmir, India has little choice but to resist such attempts, with the use of force if necessary, as now in the Kargil sector - hardly the atmosphere for meaningful dialogue.

Economic Times, India

IF PAKISTAN, which has turned its proxy war in Kashmir into almost a direct war in the area of intrusion, intensifies the conflict, turning it into a full-scale war between the two countries, so be it! Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's keenness to improve India-Pakistan relations has been more than amply manifested by his journey to Lahore by the inaugural Delhi-Lahore-Delhi bus service. This and the Lahore Declaration which followed promised to script a new chapter in the sub-continent's history. It will be a great pity if that promise is now belied. But friendship cannot be a one-sided process.

The Pioneer, India