M A I N   N E W S

India, Pak ready to discuss Kashmir
T.R. Ramachandran
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 14
In a bid to put the stalled dialogue back on the rails, India and Pakistan appeared to be working in removing the roadblocks in respect of the protracted Kashmir issue along with ensuring stability on the Line of Control for meeting the challenges ahead.

A limo carrying Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf follows honour guard on horses during a welcome ceremony at the Presidential palace in New Delhi on Saturday. — Reuters photo Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf (R) shakes hands with Indian President Kocheril Raman Narayanan in New Delhi on Saturday. India and Pakistan must draw on the past to forge a better future, the Indian President told the Pakistani leader. —Reuters photo Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf stands besides his wife Begum Sehba after meeting Indian President K. R. Narayanan during the national anthem for Pakistan on Saturday. —Reuters photo Vice-President Krishan Kant with General Pervez Musharraf at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Saturday. — PTI photo

Even though Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf maintained after his arrival here on a three-day official visit this morning that Kashmir is the core issue, he has not shut out discussing other issues like stopping cross border terrorism and extradition of criminals who have sought refuge in the neighbouring country.

General Musharraf observed in his arrival statement that the Kashmir dispute had cast a shadow on Indo-Pak relations for more than half a century and he was looking forward to a meaningful, frank and substantial discussion on the core issue. Simultaneously, he said he had come with an open mind and looked forward to establishing “peaceful, tension free and cooperative relations” between the two countries.

Indeed, there are serious differences on dealing with the Kashmir issue as India has reaffirmed that Jammu and Kashmir is an inalienable part of this country. At the same time New Delhi is not averse to discussing Kashmir even though J and K is at the very core of India’s nationhood.

In a carefully thought out strategy, New Delhi sought to convey its views to General Musharraf in the preliminary discussions held within hours of his landing here. These encompassed cross border terrorism aided and abetted by Pakistan and the sanctity of the 1972 Simla Agreement and the 1999 Lahore Declaration in a free and frank manner.

In an endeavour to bring the temperature down between the two sides, Pakistan’s High Commissioner to India Ashraf Jehangir Qazi said in the morning before General Musharraf’s arrival here that the Pakistan President had not repudiated the Simla Agreement or the Lahore Declaration. Mr Qazi stressed that General Musharraf’s statement had been distorted, misinterpreted, over-interpreted and under-interpreted by the media. Mr Qazi said he was optimistic about the outcome of the Vajpayee-Musharraf summit.

It is apparent a lot of work will have to be done in firming up how to deal with the Kashmir issue and if India will acknowledge it as a disputed territory. That is what Pakistan is harping on that India should at least make a verbal concession in accepting Kashmir as a disputed territory.

This and stability on the LOC is inevitably linked to the so called jehad in J and K and if Pakistan will reign in the terrorists and foreign militants operating from their soil with the backing of the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence. New Delhi also wants to move forward on Siachen, the world’s highest glacial battleground and other issues bedevilling the ties between the two neighbours.

India is keen on giving a push to enlarging bilateral economic, commercial and trade relations as a means of fighting the scourge of poverty in this region. This was brought to fore by Vice-President Krishan Kant when he called on General Musharraf. Mr Krishan Kant impressed upon General Musharraf that fighting poverty was the core issue between the two countries.

In a separate briefing, Pakistan Foreign Secretary, Mr Inamul Haq, reiterated that Kashmir would be the core issue at the summit while nuclear and socio-economic issues would also be taken up in substantive measure. He said Pakistan was willing to discuss the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline but primacy would be accorded to Kashmir. The Vajpayee-Musharraf summit begins in Agra tomorrow.

Mr Haq said General Musharraf was cautiously optimistic about the summit. “We have no reasons to doubt the sincerity of Mr Vajpayee. That is why he (Mr Vajpayee) gave the invitation and we accepted it,” he added.

Earlier in the morning, General Musharraf who is accompanied by his wife and a small delegation was given a red carpet and ceremonial welcome in the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhawan.