Kashmir: Is agreement in sight?

By Jyoti Malhotra, Delhi

MUSHARRAF'S PROPOSALS Pakistan gives up its claim to Indian-administered Kashmir if people from both regions have freedom of movement Neither part of Kashmir can become independent, but both can have a measure of self-governance Troops from both sides to be withdrawn in a staggered manner A joint mechanism to supervise both regions, in which people from India, Pakistan and Kashmir are represented Send us your views on this issue

The fog of nearly three decades which has persistently clouded the Kashmir dispute could be beginning to dissipate.

In the week that the US finalised legislation that would accord India a special place in the international nuclear order, the Pakistani President, Pervez Musharraf, declared in an interview that his country may be ready to give up its claim to Indian-administered Kashmir.

Separated at birth in 1947, India and Pakistan could at last be entering the home stretch of secret, back-channel negotiations to resolve their bitter dispute over Kashmir, a territory over which they have fought two wars.

Indian officials are deadpan in public. But they concede privately that President Musharraf's ground breaking comments were a manifestation of the enormous progress negotiators from both sides have made in the last few years as they strive to find a solution to the dispute.

Religious cross-migration

"What Musharraf has said is what Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been saying for some time now. It looks like something could now happen,'' Indian sources said.

Musharraf's Kashmir 'solution'

The sources pointed out that the Indian prime minister, as far back as October 2004, had stated that any solution to the Kashmir dispute could only be acceptable as long as it did not involve a change in national boundaries or was based on religious division.

The Kashmir dispute lies in the partition of India in 1947, when a new, largely-Muslim Pakistan was carved out of the existing landmass.

The division resulted in religious cross-migration that still casts a long shadow over relations between the two nations.

Over the years, the dispute became an integral part of domestic politics in both countries, overlaid by an insurgency in India's Kashmir valley that began in the late 1980s. Around 50,000 people have been killed since then.

India says that External Affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee is scheduled to visit Islamabad in January as part of the latest effort to resolve the Kashmir deadlock.

Pragmatism

It's thought that he may invite Pakistan's Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to attend the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) summit in Delhi in the summer of 2007.

Running in parallel with this initiative are back-channel negotiations between Pakistan's National Security Adviser Tariq Aziz - a close friend of President Musharraf - and India's Satinder Lambah, a former High Commissioner to Pakistan.

An end to the suffering may be on the cards

Optimists hope that they may be able to tidy up outstanding differences ahead of Mr Mukherjee's visit, which means that the two sides could - in theory - make further progress in resolving the deadlock.

If all goes well, diplomatic sources say, the process could even culminate in a visit by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Pakistan, the place of his birth, on the eve of national elections within Pakistan.

Clearly, President Musharraf's four-point plan on Kashmir reflects a new sense of pragmatism which has evolved in both capitals since the September 2001 attacks in the US.

The president's proposals seem to fit in with Prime Minister Singh's plans like a hand in a velvet glove.

The idea of the bus service launched between Srinagar (summer capital of India-administered Kashmir) to Muzaffarabad (capital of Pakistani-administered Kashmir) in April 2005 - for the first time since 1953 - was very much part of the "peoples agenda" championed by Mr Singh.

Since then another bus services across the Line of Control (LoC) which divides the two areas has been launched, with a third service in the offing.

The Indian strategy is simple: Pakistan should use its leverage to end "terrorism" within the valley, while the two countries simultaneously discuss the Kashmir dispute. No third party will be involved.

Peace package

Delhi has also attempted to reach out to Kashmiri political parties, allowing Kashmiri Hurriyat leaders like Mirwaiz Moulvi Farooq to drive across the LoC and meet the Pakistani leadership in Islamabad.

The concept of "joint supervision" has also been extensively debated behind the scenes.

Troops and militants still clash regularly

Delhi has suggested that issues like water, tourism, trade and the environment could initially be jointly explored. In time, elected legislators from both sides could also do things together.

The only major Indian disagreement with the President Musharraf's proposals revolve around the concept of "jointly supervising" the political processes in Kashmir. At the moment Delhi will fight shy of allowing any "Pakistani control" over its own territory.

Moreover, India would certainly want an end to the insurgency to be part of any comprehensive Kashmir peace package.

The truth, though, is that with the world having changed so irrevocably since 9/11, America appears to have successfully nudged both India and Pakistan to resolve this most intractable of disputes.

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Send your views on this by using the form below this selection of comments.

Even a visionary leader like Musharraf is eventually bound to give up if India keeps up its constant nagging and rigid stance to keep choosing conflict over peace.
A. Upal, Canada

It will take more than words for India to believe Musharaf. He can flip flop any time. Good example is his policy towards Taleban.
Arun, USA

Anybody who believes Musharraf is the biggest fool.
Nirav, USA

I think India should consider this offer seriously as all previous Pakistani leaders have never agreed to pull back or show any initiatives in taking such large steps towards peace in the region. Yes there's extremism coming from individual Muslims living on both sides of the border but they exist on the mere speculation that India would eventually give up their control of Kashmir because the Kashmir dispute has yet to be settled. Another thing is that the Pakistani leadership knows it can never take Kashmir by force so how in the world would Musharraf be attempting to plot something in the name of peace?
Hasnain, Sweden

I think Musharraf wants to see the end of Kashmir problem before he gives up power and if he can do it despite the opposition from Islamic extremists at home, it will be a huge step forward for both India and Pakistan. the indian radicalists like BJP are not in power and so this is the right time when both sides should compromise their respective historical stands and end the matter.
Samudra Dasgupta, India

Let Kashmir be indepedent nation.India has to accept it.
Ajay, Canada/Ontario

The fate of Kashmir should be decided by Kashmiris only and not be dictated by any other country. If the people of Kashmir want to be a free nation, then let the entire Kashmir be a sovereign state.
Maudood A. Bhatti, USA

Indians need to prove their democracy and love for peace through kashmir!
Hasan Miraj, USA

The ball is now in India's court. Much depends on how it will respond. Alas, I do not trust the Indians...they will fail to take advantage of this because they cannot believe that a Pakistani can ever have the moral high ground on Kashmir. The dispute will go on forever
Qasim Awan, Karachi, Pakistan

This is great, I hope India and Pakistan will seize this opportunity to resolve Kashmir dispute. Kashmiris have suffered because of Indo-Pak bickering. If India aspires to be a genuine democracy, it must listen to Kashmiri people. I got a chance to interact with Pakistanis and Kashimiris after moving abroad and everybody I met are decent and nice towards Indians. I would like to say that we too are not bad.
Prasad , India/United States

This is another ploy from the Pakistan's President. It is so easy for him to say that he will withdraw their troops because there is no problem on their side. It is the terrorism that is aided and abated by Pakistan on the Indian side. Pakistan will never be in peace with India even after the Kashmir issue is solved. The president is just coming up with these ideas because of the enormous pressure he has on him. India will be foolish to accept this and should never do it.
Kris Murthy, USA

Everyone criticises President Musharraf, both within Pakistan and beyond its borders because of his military connotations and secular ideals, but really he is a succesful and progressive leader with a tough stance on corruption, willing to risk a public backlash by offering terms on Kashmir, but with the hope of securing a lasting peace in the area. Right on, Uncle-General. I'd let you back in the Commonwealth.
John, UK

What i don't agree in his proposal is this: "Pakistan gives up its claim to Indian-administered Kashmir"... when the fact is that it is Pakistan who has to give up its claim of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. Also for all these years that Kashmir was occupied by Pakistani military, they have never ever encouraged a democracy in their side of the region whereas India has a government setup in Kashmir. Even the EU report draft on the Kashmir issue states that the people in PoK are not allowed to contest election or elect their representatives. Hence Pak allowing self governance in their part of the region is still is BIG issue. Its either Pak and India give up their respective regions and then under the Indian governement, UN holds a plebicite or just make the Line of Control the permanent borders.
Sourav, USA

President Musharraf's proposal should be considered sincerely, no politics should be over welfare of people. Coming from Indian Panjab, once hotbed of terrorism,I do know the difference between peace and violence. Kashmiris have suffered since ages, they deserve peace, happiness and prosperity like rest of us.
Navneet, USA

a good reporting marred by final comment that the whole peace process had initiative and sanction of US; specially jarring since India is sovereign state. No nation is as big or powerful as it imagines to be and hopefully one reporter's "truth" (jyoti malhotra) does not undermine the actual peace process. it might be a good idea to throw the mental yoke of our former white masters.
moloy goswami, usa

From the general's history, this is sounds like the beginning of a new strategy...I don't see what Indians or Kashmiris gain out of this new position.
Tony, USA

Kashmir,Indian and Pakistani controlled should be joined together and whole of Kashmir should be declared an inedependent state with its own elected government, totally free from Indian or Pakistani influence.
Dr Iqbal A Jan, U K

I commend Musharraf on his stance. What troubles me is that India may not be willing to listen to his proposal, since they will continue to claim that peace cannot be achieved without Pakistan stopping it's support for the hard line islamist. I think pakistan lost control of such groups a long time ago.
Abhishek Goel, Toronto, Canada

MUSHARRAF IS MOST UNRELIABLE PERSON.THOUGH HE IS TALKING PEACE ,HE MAY BE PLOTTING PLOTTING SOME ANTI-INDIA MOVE BEHIND THE CURTAIN.
C.K.DANDEKAR, INDIA

Yet another ostensibly clever strategy by the general to hoodwink Indian leadership and get at the negotiating table, what he could not get through force of arms and terrorism. Any keen student of Pakistan's machinations in Kashmir ought to know that Pakistan's neurotic desire has always been to annex the Muslim-dominated valley of Kashmir from India. Thus, by publicly foreswearing Pakistan's claim over a territory they never had any control over, where is the concession? Furthermore, not insisting on plebiscite is no concession either. Apart from the legalities that Pakistan itself had to satisfy for such an exercise, there was never, ever, even a faint chance that India will conduct a 'plebiscite', because doing so would be tantamount to India trampling on its own sacrosanct, secular constitutional principle by allowing a Muslim-dominated region to secede from the Indian union. In short, Mushraff's specious four-point formula is designed to dilute India's sovereignty over ! the Muslim-dominated valley, while at the same time, giving Pakistan an official stake in the affairs there. Given the religion-based resentment the residents of the valley have towards India, in effect, this would mean slow-motion surrender by India of the valley to Pakistan, and a triumph of atavistic notions of religious separatism and jihadi terrorism.
CRamS, USA

It's about time these two countries chose peace over rhetoric and bravado, this is a wonderful development. These nations should now invest more in their people instead of their nuclear arsenals. I don't understand why creating a separate state would not be an option. Kashmir could be a duty-free independent nation like Andorra between Spain and France.
Marcos Carvalho, Boston, usa

I think President Musharraf's propostition reflects the maturity that both Pakistan and India are ready to grasp. Hopefully, Kashmir will finally be able to live in peace.
Kaleena Mahmood, USA

Nobody in India believes Mushraf's words after the kargil incident. Also he is just playing with the words. This is what he has been saying from the agra meet. If there has to be any meaningful solution, it has to start with the termination of militancy support from pakistan
Vijay, USA

Shows only that Musharraf is part of the "one-world-order" group already over-represented at the UN!
Srini Varadarajan, USA/India/Canada

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