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Kashmir : PM welcomes Musharraf’s remarks

	December 18, 2006

In a significant development, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has welcomed Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf’s four-point plan for settling the Kashmir issue. Speaking to newspersons on board the special flight bringing him back from Japan, he said, “I welcome the efforts whosoever puts in to normalise relations between India and Pakistan. If at any time, new ideas come, we welcome them and I would like to say that in the last two and a half years, we have had intensive dialogue with Pakistan.”



Earlier this month, Gen. Musharraf had outlined a four-point plan to solve the Kashmir issue in an interview to a TV channel. He had said that Pakistan would give up its claim to Kashmir and would give a go-by to the UN resolutions calling for plebiscite in the state if India also gives up what he called “its traditional stand.”



Replying to queries from newspersons, Dr. Manmohan Singh also referred to the invitation from the Pakistan President to visit that country and said that he had accepted it.



The Prime Minister’s remarks about Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf’s often repeated formulae for settling the Kashmir issue come in the wake of a recent flurry of statements from the Pakistan side indicating new thinking on Islamabad’s part. On Wednesday, Dec. 13, Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri said that his country had never any territorial claims over Kashmir. He said that Pakistan’s position on Kashmir rested solely on UN Security Council resolutions which provided that it was the Kashmiris who had to decide their future.



Kasuri said that Pakistan President Musharraf was prepared to show flexibility on its position if India could match it, but said that Islamabad would never move unilaterally. Kasuri said that his government is trying to create a situation which is a win-win for all, for Pakistan, India and the Kashmiris. He said Pakistan hopes that in view of the experience of the three parties involved, they would go in for a solution that would satisfy the aspirations of the Kashmiris.



Observers in New Delhi say that recent Pakistani statements on Kashmir and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s observations on Gen. Musharraf’s four-point plan indicate that discussions between New Delhi and Islamabad have thrown up viable options for a solution to the Kashmir issue. Pakistan may also be preparing its citizens for a solution to the dispute over Jammu and Kashmir, which is below their expectations.







In another development, Pakistan appealed to Norway on Dec. 14 to facilitate the resolution of disputes with India. The matter was raised by President Pervez Musharraf during his meeting with Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store in Islamabad. But Norway said that it would be willing to mediate only if both India and Pakistan sought its help. There is no hope for that as India has been opposed to any third-party mediation over Kashmir and other issues with Pakistan.



Speaking to the Norwegian Minister, Gen. Musharraf praised Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s sincerity in resolving bilateral issues and hoped that Pakistan’s proposals would lead to progress in resolving the Kashmir issue.



Denying reports that it is scaling down its stand on the Kashmir issue, Pakistan said on Dec. 14 that there was no deviation from its policy and it was serious about a paradigm shift in its relations with India to reach an honourable settlement. Foreign Minister Kasuri said in a TV interview, “My message to the people of South Asia is that Pakistan is very serious about bringing about a paradigm shift in its ties with India.”



Defending President Musharraf’s recent proposals to solve the Kashmir issue, Kasuri said, “There is no deviation on Kashmir. Why are we making proposals ? We want to change the status quo. The party wanting to change the status quo has to make greater exertions. Indians perhaps would be happy with the status quo.”



On whether Pakistan alone was making proposals and India had not conceded anything, Kasuri said, “If India does not budge an inch, we would not budge an inch. What have we given ? Nothing.”





Cautious response to Musharraf proposals in Kashmir



There is polarisation among political parties in Kashmir on Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf’s four-point formula. Democratic Freedom Party chief Shabir Ahmed Shah said in Jammu on Dec. 11 the formula needs to be discussed with representatives of the Kashmiri people. He said, “I do not reject Gen. Musharraf’s formula, but its relevance has to be tested when it is discussed with India and Pakistan with representatives of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.”



Contrary to Shabir Ahmed Shah’s reaction Gen. Musharraf’s proposal has received support from the biggest separatist combine, the All Party Hurriyat Conference, as also mainstream political parties like the People’s Democratic Party, a constituent of the ruling coalition in the state and the National Conference, the most potent political force in Kashmir. Despite its autonomy roadmap for Kashmir, the National Conference leadership supported the Pakistan President’s formula. The JKLF led by Yasin Malik and the People’s Conference led by Sajjad Lone, who are known to support independence, have favoured the formula half-heartedly.



Expectedly, the state BJP has rejected the formula on the ground that it would amount to the reversal of integration of the state with the Union of India. The leader of he hardline faction of the Hurriyat Syed Ali Shah Gilani also rejected Gen. Musharraf’s formula saying that it is a negation of what he called the Kashmiri’s freedom struggle.





Adjustments on Jammu and Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh possible



External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee has said that some adjustments may take place here and there on Arunachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir at the conclusion of the ongoing talks with China and Pakistan respectively. He said in the Lok Sabha, the lower House of Parliament, on Dec. 13 that the fact that the House has passed resolutions declaring the two states as an integral part of India did not make them non-negotiable. He was responding to leader of the Opposition L.K. Advani’s objection to Chinese Ambassador Sun Yuxi’s claim that the whole of Arunachal Pradesh belonged to China.



Stating that China had “from time to time raised the Arunachal Pradesh issue,” Mukherjee said, “Even during the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s visit in 2003, the issue was raised by the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson.”



Provoked by Mukherjee’s comparison between Jammu and Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh, Advani said, “I am afraid that the statement has brought an issue, which is more touchy...I have raised an issue of propriety (whether the envoy could make such a remark), but you said Arunachal Pradesh is negotiable.”



Pranab Mukherjee informed the Rajya Sabha, the Upper House of Parliament on December 14, that China continued to be in illegal occupation of 38,000 sq. km. of land in Jammu and Kashmir. In addition, under the socalled Sino-Pakistan boundary agreement of 1963, Pakistan had illegally ceded 5180 sq. km. of Indian territory in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir to China.





Pak support to terrorists continues



On December 16, Defence Minister A.K. Antony said that despite a reduction in incidents of violence and infiltration in Jammu and Kashmir, there was no room for complacency. “Even now Pakistan is giving arms support to terrorists. Unless Pakistan takes the decision to stop supporting terrorists, we have to remain on alert. However, the situation today is slightly better,” Antony told newspersons after leading the nation in paying homage to fallen soldiers on Vijay Diwas, the day Indian armed forces won the war against the Pakistani forces in 1971 and forced the largest-ever surrender after World War II.







Antony said that of late the number of insurgency-related incidents and the rate of infiltration had gone down. But it was difficult to say whether this would be a permanent feature.



“One reason is that the armed forces are always on alert. I highly appreciate their sacrifices in that State and that I am convinced they need better facilities and better treatment and they will have it.”



Dwelling on the need for greater sensitivity towards soldiers posted in areas far away from their homes, Antony wanted the states to be more proactive towards difficulties being faced by their families.



“I am concerned about suicides and fratricide. Even one suicide is important According to me, one of the major factors is psychological. The Indian society is changing and families are now nuclear as against joint families. Unless the state administration comes to the rescue of the jawan’s family, the tension will immediately pass on to the jawan,” he said.





Security scenario reviewed



A high level meeting in New Delhi on Dec. 13 reviewed the security scenario in Jammu and Kashmir and steps to curb infiltration of militants into the state. The meeting was chaired by state Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad. There was special focus at the meeting on sharing of intelligence and other terrorism related information on a real-time basis in view of the latest moves for an open border making the Line of Control irrelevant. The meeting was also attended by Union Home Secretary V.K. Duggal and Director Intelligence Bureau E.S.L. Narasimhan.