Indian coalition sworn in amid tension

India`s newly elected government assumed office yesterday at a swearing-in ceremony overshadowed by grave concern over the military coup in neighbouring Pakistan and with its forces remaining on "high alert" along its borders.

Soon after the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, and his 70-member coalition government were administered the oath of office by the President, Mr K.R. Narayanan, a meeting of the cabinet committee on security was convened to discuss the "untoward" developments in Pakistan. "We are concerned, but there is no cause for alarm or anxiety," Mr Jaswant Singh, the Foreign Minister-designate, said. In a statement issued ahead of the cabinet meeting, Mr Vajpayee said vigilance on the border had been intensified. He said that India would talk to the Pakistani "establishment" provided it created the right environment. "Indian policy towards Pakistan is consistent and principled and we wish the Pakistani people well," Mr Vajpayee said.

India's army chief, Gen Ved Prakash Malik, said the political instability in Pakistan was not conducive to regional stability and needed close monitoring. Indian security officials said Pakistan's military coup would make peace negotiations difficult, if not impossible. They perceive Gen Musharraf as a hard-liner who masterminded the Kargil invasion. "Gen Musharaff is determined to avenge Pakistan's humiliating defeat in the 1971 war with India which led to East Pakistan breaking away to become Bangladesh," said a military official. Meanwhile, scores of villagers living along the border in northern Punjab state began fleeing their homes after Pakistan's military coup raised fears of fresh tension between the neighbours. Residents of Taran Taran, 15 miles from the holy Sikh city of Amritsar, began moving out after additional military trucks moved into the area which saw fierce tank battles in the 1965 and 1971 wars with Pakistan. "There is panic," said Mr Kuldeep Singh, a farmer. "We are moving to keep our families safe," he said.