Musharraf for 'framework' to resolve Kashmir dispute

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, JUNE 29. For the first time since the Indian Government invited the military ruler and President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, to visit India for peace talks, the military government has said the General would try to get a ``framework'' for resolving the Kashmir dispute accepted at the Agra summit with the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee.

The Kashmir Affairs Minister, Mr. Sarfraz Khan, today quoted Gen. Musharraf as telling representatives of political and religious groups from the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on Thursday, about his intention to look for a ``certain framework'' to resolve the Kashmir issue.

``During my talks with the Prime Minister, I would call for a certain framework for the resolution of the Kashmir problem. I would also urge the Indian leadership that the dialogue must continue under the framework,'' Gen. Musharraf was quoted as saying.

Mr. Khan's statement is significant and tallies with the assessment given by the Foreign Secretary, Mr. Enamul Haq, during a meeting with a group of editors and columnists here a few days ago.

Mr. Haq said Pakistan would not insist on immediate resolution of the Kashmir problem as a ``pre-requisite'' for normalisation of ties with India as long as New Delhi was willing to accept Kashmir as the centrality of the problem between the two countries and agree for a mechanism for its resolution.

Pakistan did not expect the Kashmir issue to be resolved in one meeting. Significantly, Gen. Musharraf echoed the same sentiments in the series of meetings he has had in the last few days as part of the consultation process in the run-up to the summit.

``The President (Gen. Musharraf) said he believes there cannot be any instant solution for all the problems and that he is going to India with an open mind and with an effort to create a conducive atmosphere for future talks,'' Mr. Khan said. He added that the representatives of Kashmiri groups had denounced the suggestion for the so-called ``third option'' envisaging an independent Kashmir.

Three options

In a related development, the Jamaat-e-Islami daily, Jasarat, has reported that three possible options would be considered to resolve the Kashmir issue during the coming summit meeting.

Quoting reliable sources, it said the first was the conversion of Line of Control into international border. The second suggested division of Kashmir giving the regions of Jammu and Ladakh to India and PoK to Pakistan apart from holding a plebiscite in the Valley. According to the third option, India and Pakistan should accept the Chenab River as a permanent border under which India would get some districts of Jammu and Ladakh while the Valley, the PoK and two districts of Jammu would go to Pakistan.

The paper said any of the options could be selected at the summit and that the Foreign Ministries and other institutions concerned had completed the groundwork. The Foreign Ministers of the two countries had also taken the big powers into confidence regarding these options during their recent visits. The paper said the summit could prove to be the beginning of a major breakthrough.

UNI reports:

Meanwhile, Gen. Musharraf has said the Kashmir dispute can be resolved in less than a year if both sides are ``sincere and open minded.'' Talking to Islamabad-based foreign mediapersons on Thursday, he, however, warned that his meeting with Mr. Vajpayee would become a farce if the dispute was sought to be sidetracked and got bogged down on other issues.

``There must be an absolute, unequivocal acceptance of the fact that Kashmir is the issue that has bedevilled our relations... we have to resolve it. I would be really disappointed if we follow the hackneyed path of past bilateral meetings that have bogged down on other issues,'' he said.

Brushing aside India's concern on cross-border terrorism and whether he would rein in the armed Islamic groups operating from Pakistani soil, Gen. Musharraf insisted that the Kashmir insurgency was indigenous.

* * *

Ban on Indian sugar to stay: Pak.

KARACHI, JUNE 29. Pakistan today said it would continue a ban on the import of Indian sugar, imposed in March this year, and the issue would not be discussed in the India-Pakistan summit scheduled for next month.

``We have banned the import of Indian sugar...It will continue and we had already taken a decision on it,'' the Commerce Minister, Mr. Abdul Razzaq Daud, told presspersons here.

The Minister, however, refused to answer a query on whether Pakistan would grant MFN (most favoured nation) status to India during the summit.

- Reuters

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