Indian Spy Plane Shot Down

Just hours after a senior U.S. diplomat reported a slight easing of tensions Friday, Pakistan said its air force shot down a pilotless Indian spy plane after it crossed the international border.

Pakistani jets brought down the reconnaissance drone around 11 p.m. near the town of Raja Jang south of Lahore, Pakistan’s second-largest city, according to a statement issued in Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital.

Maj. Gen. Rashid Qureshi, a presidential spokesman, called the incident an example of India’s “complete disregard” for “international norms” and repeated a warning that “if Indian aggression is launched, Pakistan will defend itself.”

In early January, when the two countries were close to war after a terrorist attack on India’s Parliament the previous month, Indian forces said they shot down a Pakistani drone that had flown over Indian-controlled territory.

That incident, in the Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, was treated as routine by both sides and did not add to tensions.

The Indian government said Friday that it needed a few more days to determine whether Pakistan has permanently stopped the infiltration of fighters into the Indian-ruled portion of Kashmir, a key condition for an end to its confrontation with Pakistan.

The timing of India’s assessment would coincide with a visit by U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, who is expected to arrive here for high-level talks in the middle of next week.

“There is no established trend as yet” that the infiltrations have stopped, Indian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Nirupama Rao said Friday. The previous day, Defense Minister George Fernandes said fighters were still crossing into the disputed territory from Pakistani-held areas.

Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee was encouraged by U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage’s assurance during a meeting between the two Friday that Pakistan had promised “to permanently stop infiltrations,” according to an aide to the Indian leader.

Vajpayee likes and respects Armitage, so his word carries extra weight, and the Indian leader did not make any specific demands in the meeting, said the aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the talks.

After meeting with Vajpayee, Armitage told reporters that he thought “tensions are a little bit down. I feel very good about the discussions in India.”

But Rao said her government still isn’t convinced that Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf is sincere in his commitment to stopping what India calls cross-border terrorism.

“This assurance has been made in the past but had not been followed up by credible action,” Rao told a news conference.

“Therefore, going by past experience, we feel that it is in our legitimate interests to verify such assurances on the ground. And if and when we are satisfied that such assurances have been translated into action, then we can consider reciprocity.”

A senior Pakistani official said Armitage had won two concessions from Musharraf during talks in Islamabad on Thursday.

The first was a promise to permanently stop the flow of militants into Indian-controlled territory and not simply open the door again when the heat is off, the Pakistani source said.

The Pakistani president also agreed to “any kind” of independent verification to prove the 1972 cease-fire line that divides Kashmir, called the Line of Control, is closed to infiltrators, the senior official added.

In return, Musharraf is trying to get a commitment from the U.S. that it will remain engaged on the Kashmir issue, not just in efforts to defuse the current crisis but also in searching for a long-term solution, the source said.

Musharraf hopes that Armitage used the concessions as leverage in New Delhi on Friday to get Vajpayee to make at least a gesture that could be interpreted as an attempt to de-escalate the crisis, according to the source. The hope in Islamabad is that this would eventually lead to direct talks.

Vajpayee wants Indian and Pakistani forces to jointly monitor the Line of Control. In public statements, Pakistan has been pressing for an international observer mission; if Musharraf has softened that demand, it could prove a significant concession.

The two countries’ conflicting positions reflect their long-standing diplomatic strategies. India insists that the dispute over Kashmir must be settled through bilateral negotiations, without foreign mediation.

New Delhi fears that outside involvement might force it to hold a referendum on independence for Kashmir, which Pakistan wants--along with many Kashmiris, who feel caught in the middle of the 55-year dispute.

By insisting on an international mission to watch for infiltrators into Indian-controlled territory, Pakistan hopes to confirm a foreign role in finally settling the issue.

Armitage called “farfetched” a report that the U.S. and Britain had offered to send observers to patrol the cease-fire line in helicopters, and Rao said such a proposal did not come up in Armitage’s talks in New Delhi.

“Frankly, I don’t think that is a practical suggestion or a doable idea at all because the terrain is inhospitable,” Rao said. “Nobody knows it better than the forces of India and Pakistan.”

The two armies continued to exchange heavy fire across their front line Friday.

At least six civilians were killed, three on each side, police said. And hundreds of terrified residents fled on both sides of the front line, joining thousands of refugees from recent fighting.

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Watson reported from New Delhi and Marshall from Islamabad. Sidhartha Barua in The Times’ New Delhi Bureau contributed to this report.