India Alleges Pakistani Ties to Hijack, Seeks Sanctions

India and Pakistan exchanged angry accusations Monday about India’s claim that its nuclear rival had a hand in the eight-day hijacking of an Indian Airlines jetliner in which one passenger was killed.

Reflecting the tensions between the two neighbors, a land mine explosion Monday killed 17 people and wounded 31 in the disputed region of Kashmir. No one claimed responsibility for the blast in a vegetable market outside Indian-controlled Srinagar, but Muslim separatists often carry out attacks in the region. And in Pakistani-held Kashmir, five civilians were killed Monday during repeated Indian shelling, Pakistani officials said.

The Asian rivals regularly trade fire across Kashmir. Shelling goes on almost every day, and militants frequently carry out bomb attacks.

Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on Monday urged the United States and other world powers to declare Pakistan a terrorist state, saying India had evidence proving that Pakistan was involved in the hijacking.

“Pakistan’s active and sustained role in fomenting terrorism in India is now too obvious to be overlooked by the international community,” Vajpayee said. “India, therefore, strongly urges major nations of the world to declare Pakistan a terrorist state.”

Vajpayee’s comments were the latest in a series of strong statements by Indian leaders alleging Pakistani involvement in the Dec. 24 hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight 814, bound from Nepal to New Delhi. However, neither Vajpayee nor the other officials have provided evidence to back up the allegations.

Nations that declare Pakistan a terrorist state could impose a range of sanctions against the government in Islamabad, including a ban on travel, restrictions on military sales and withdrawal of foreign aid.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Abdus Sattar dismissed the Indian allegations Monday as “trumped-up charges” and said India had an “abhorrent record of state terrorism,” a reference to its military campaign against Muslim militants in Indian-held Kashmir who are fighting for outright independence or union with Islamic Pakistan.

The five hijackers acted in support of the Kashmiri militants, but their names and nationalities are not known, and they wore masks throughout the hijacking.