Word: delhi
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...Indian Airlines hijacking drama may have ended peacefully, but that won?t help the Taliban?s PR efforts to distance itself from terrorism. The hijackers released their 155 captives in Kandahar, Afghanistan, Friday after India agreed to hand over three high-profile Kashmiri separatist prisoners. New Delhi?s decision to reverse its no-concessions-to-terrorism policy reflected mounting domestic pressure to resolve the standoff at the same time as Afghanistan?s Taliban rulers tied India?s hands. "There were threats of self-immolation by relatives of the hostages in India and it became very difficult for the government...
...shivered through sweltering days and chilly nights: Initially, India looked set to restore relations with the Afghan rulers on the basis of their cooperation with Indian efforts to free the hostages, but then Pakistan - the Taliban?s original patron - put its foot down. "There?s a feeling in New Delhi that Pakistan played a tremendous role in pressuring the Taliban to not allow a commando raid," says Rahman. "Indian commandos were waiting at the airport in Kandahar to storm the plane, but after Pakistan intervened, the Taliban suddenly surrounded the plane with men and armored vehicles and forbade an Indian...
...negotiate an end to the dispute by Saturday, the plane will be forced to leave Afghanistan. "The Taliban's ruling council has decreed that no foreign military personnel will be allowed onto Afghan soil, and that rules out a commando raid to take out the hijackers," says TIME New Delhi correspondent Maseeh Rahman. "That may build up domestic pressure in India to release the Maulana in order to save the hostages." The hijackers have reduced their demands to one: The release of 36 Kashmiri separatist militants from Indian prisons, most notably the Pakistani cleric Maulana Masood Azhar...
...Although many anti-India Kashmiri fighters are trained in camps in Afghanistan and the Indian government supports the anti-Taliban opposition, the Afghans' conduct during the hijacking had earned praise from New Delhi. "The Taliban's refusal to allow a commando raid on the plane raises the question of whether they?re playing a double game," says Rahman. "After all, there's no reason for the hijackers to back down on their demands if there?s no fear of an imminent attack. Right now, the hijackers are fairly comfortable." That may change, of course, if the Taliban forces the plane...
TIME: In New Delhi you are held responsible for last summer's war with India. How do you hope to normalize relations with India...