M A I N   N E W S

India ready to look into Pervez formula
Ashok Tuteja

On Board Special IAF Aircraft, November 13
India today expressed its readiness to look at President Pervez Musharraf’s radical formula for resolving the Kashmir issue if it is formally proposed by Islamabad but ruled out accepting US or any other third country’s mediation between the two South Asian neighbours.

‘’If a formal proposal is made, we can certainly look at it,’’ External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh said when asked to comment on Gen Musharraf’s recent suggestion to settle the Kashmir issue.

He was talking to reporters who accompanied him to Cairo to attend the funeral of Palestine President Yasser Arafat.

Mr Natwar Singh said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had also stated that ‘’if a proposal is made at an Iftar get-together or through the media, it certainly can’t be accepted as a formal proposal.’’

At an Iftar party for senior journalists in Islamabad about a fortnight ago, Gen Musharraf had suggested that New Delhi and Islamabad consider making some areas of Kashmir independent, placing them under joint Indian-Pakistani control, or putting them under the administration of the United Nations. He also conditioned his comments on a demilitarisation of the region.

When it was pointed out to him that US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage had described Gen Musharraf’s formula as ‘’forward looking’’, the Foreign Minister said: ‘’It is for the USA to decide but as far as we are concerned, it is a bilateral matter and no third party is involved. Any third party mediation will not be acceptable to India. We appreciate American interest but there is no question of any third party getting involved in mediation.’’

Pak welcomes Natwar Singh’s statement

Islamabad, November 13
Pakistan has welcomed India’s willingness to consider President General Pervez Musharraf’s recent proposal for demilitarisation of Kashmir.

“Following Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s announcement about troop reduction in Jammu and Kashmir, External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh’s statement on Pakistani proposal reflects a positive and constructive approach towards resolution of the Kashmir issue,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Masood Khan said here. — PTI