India was not a party to the agreement, and Pakistan had obtained nothing beside a vague commitment by Mr Clinton to “take a personal interest” in encouraging the resumption of bi-lateral talks between Pakistan and India.The most plausible explanation for the Kargil conflict was that it was Pakistan’s attempt to get the outside world involved again in Kashmir. Every Saturday Mr Sharif plays cricket at Lawrence Gardens, in central Lahore. That day he played as usual, but journalists said he seemed nervous and pre- occupied.That night he flew to Washington for a summit, requested by him, with Bill Clinton. Within seven days the status quo ante of the Line of Control (the de facto border through Kashmir) will be restored, if it goes according to plan.” Pakistan claims the period permitted for withdrawal was two weeks.The first hint that the Kargil conflict could be approaching a diplomatic solution came a fortnight ago, with a low-profile visit to Delhi by a former head of Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry.But the key event occurred 10 days ago, on Saturday 2 July. On Sunday at the border post of Wagah in the Punjab, the Directors-General of military operations of both countries discussed “the modalities for de-escalation”, as Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, Sartaj Aziz, put it.

India’s air strikes strikes stopped and the enemy India claims are mostly regular Pakistani troops dressed up as Islamic warriors, began to withdraw.India’s National Security Adviser, Brajesh Mishra, said yesterday: “We have evidence of withdrawal already in the Kargil region. we pointed out (to India) that the Kashmir problem is like simmering lava underground. Until the Kashmiris are given the right of self-determination, the lava will be unstoppable. Another Kargil will start somewhere else.”But in the past two days, most of the talk has been of disengagement. I said we should solve the problem according to our traditions of dialogue.” But suddenly, he said, India began a violent assault.He praised the Mujahideen for their actions. “Their reason for capturing the peaks above Kargil was to bring the Kashmir problem to international attention,” he said “They have been very successful … He implied he was as much surprised as the Indians when what he called “Mujahideen” (Islamic warriors) appeared deep inside Indian territory in May, above the town of Kargil.
“We saw the Mujahideen had reached the peaks in Kargil,” he said, “and (Indian Prime Minister) Mr Vajpayee telephoned me and expressed his concern.

The Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif told his nation on state television last night he refused to accept any blame for starting the conflict. The battle that raged at up to 16,000ft in Northern Kashmir’s mountains for nine weeks, with the probable loss of at least 1,000 lives, appeared to be over last night, as Pakistani- sponsored forces disengaged and Indian artillery fell silent. A FOURTH full-scale Indo-Pakistani war, with the threat of a nuclear exchange, has been averted. Taipei claimed that the One-China formula, with its acceptance of Taiwan as part of an indivisible China, was being used to undermine the island’s government.
The United States reaffirmed its support yesterday for One China.. The flare-up followed a statement by Taipei that it now regarded Taiwan-China relations as matters between distinct Chinese states.

But it made no immediate move to act on threats to retake the island – which it regards as a rebel province – by force. Peking has warned Taiwan “not to underestimate the Chinese government’s firm determination to uphold the nation’s sovereignty, dignity and territorial integrity”. PEKING UNLEASHED a torrent of rhetoric yesterday, after Taiwan announced without warning that it was abandoning the One-China policy that has governed its uneasy co- existence with the mainland for almost half a century. How cheering it was to see some fully justified Russian satisfaction.. So often, in these hard times, it seems that Russians are unhappy. Many of the images are like dreams, beyond explanation.Igor himself said he felt very gratified He used the word repeatedly, “dovolen, dovolen”.

Now we have been invited to St Petersburg.” Several visitors wanted to see the original photographs so they could understand the changes Igor had made But that is his secret. Today, he works for an Internet agency called IT InfoArt Stars and you can see his pictures on www.infoart.ru and www.stars.ruWord of the exhibition got out on the Internet and visitors came from far-flung regions as well as Moscow “The sponsors were thrilled They did not expect the show to make a profit. But, since last August’s economic crash, they have lost their middle-class lifestyles while Igor’s pounds 250 now seems a respectable wage. “New Russian” friends said he could earn a lot more by going into business. The tasks seemed boring – photographing computer terminals or, if he was lucky, Bill Gates at a press conference – but he was learning the new technology of digital cameras and the scanners and printers that are the modern photographer’s laboratory.Plodding along at Computer Weekly, he was earning the equivalent of about pounds 250 a month, not much considering that he and his Uzbek wife, Nellie, have two budding ballet dancers for children and their tuition does not come cheap. With this job, he was able to sit in on the film school lectures while earning a living with his camera.Igor also earned a little on the side from private commissions for portraits This was how I first met him.