New Delhi, October 26
The Ministry of External Affairs today played down Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf’s sweeping proposal for resolution of the Kashmir issue saying discussions on the subject could not be held through the media and the correct forum for this was the Composite Dialogue process.
Gen Musharraf’s remarks have created amusement in Indian analytical circles. They say there is no question of any change in the external aspects of the status of Jammu and Kashmir.
MEA spokesperson Navtej Sarna, in response to a question on Gen Musharraf’s remarks, clarified the Government of India’s position as follows: “Naturally, we have heard those comments. We do not believe that Jammu and Kashmir is a subject on which discussions can be held through the media. It is one of the subjects in the Composite Dialogue Process. So, if there are any proposals/suggestions regarding that, that is the forum that we expect that they will be brought to.”
According to the analysts, there is nothing new in the points made by Gen Musharraf.
As far as India is concerned, the question of internal autonomy will
be debated and discussed internally. Gen Musharraf’s description of Kashmir’s regions is wrong, from the Kashmiris’ point of view. Gen Musharraf said Kashmir, in entirety, had seven regions-— two in Pakistan and five in India. Though he did not specify these regions, the geographical divisions of Kashmir, presumably in Gen Musharraf’s mind, are: Plains (including Jammu), foothills upto 7000 feet, Pir Panjal, the Valley, Great Himalayan Zone, upper Indus Valley and the Karakoram.
Hurriyat Conference leader Abbas Ansari has gone on record as identifying Kashmir as having the following five regions: Gilgit, Baltistan, Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh.
This shows that Gen Musharraf’s basic argument itself is flawed.
Moreover, Gen Musharraf has taken upon himself the task of voicing the Government of India’s stand on J&K, and that too erroneously. Gen Musharraf described Pakistan’s position on Kashmir as that of plebiscite and that of India’s as converting Line of Control (LoC) into International Border.
Gen Musharraf’s remarks are merely an exercise in public relationing. In substance it is unlikely to go very far as Gen Musharraf’s suggestions are not in keeping with what Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told him in New York on September 24.
The Indian Prime Minister had told Gen Musharraf that New Delhi was prepared to look at any option so long as it does not amount to redrawing of boundaries or another partition of the country.
But what Gen Musharraf’s comments do show is that perhaps the Pakistani leadership has realised that its traditional position on Jammu and Kashmir is neither sustainable nor practical.
However, Pakistan still has a considerable distance to go before it reaches anywhere near a realistic or feasible solution.
