New Delhi, Oct. 25: India can consider helping Pakistan in non-military reconstruction activity in quake-ravaged Kashmir and army engineers are building a bridge across a river on the Line of Control that people will take to be treated at Indian relief camps.
Defence minister Pranab Mukherjee said here today the relief centres that India was setting up at three points ? Chakan da Bagh, Kaman and Teethwal ? along the LoC will take some time to be fully operational.
Pakistan’s director of military operations has conveyed to the Indian director-general of military operations (DGMO) that because communication links were either poor or had snapped, residents of PoK may not be able to make it to the relief camps yet. The relief camps were to have been operational from today.
“We are prepared to help them in reconstruction but surely it is not expected that they will agree nor will it be desirable on our part to reconstruct their military establishments like bunkers. And in those areas (of PoK) these are the most important construction activities.
“So far as the houses and other things are concerned, they can be constructed but for immediate construction activities it is not the public works department that can do it. The Military Engineering Services (MES) will have to operate that. Now, if they cannot take the helicopter with military pilots, how can you expect them to allow our MES people to go? There is no room for romanticism in these matters,” Mukherjee said.
The army in the meanwhile has sent a team of engineers to put up a floating bridge on the Kishenganga river (also known as Neelum) at Teethwal near Tangdhar. One of the three relief centres being set up on the Line of Control is at Teethwal.
Mukherjee said the opening of the relief centres had not been deferred but formalities were still being sorted out. The picture would be clearer after an Indian team has talks in Islamabad this week.
“Our DGMO and his counterpart had a discussion yesterday. And the problem which they (Pakistan) are saying is that there may not be adequate number of people available on the other side who can come to these stations (because) communication is difficult...,” he said when asked why the relief centres were delayed.
