Sattar wants tripartite talks before Ramzan

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, DEC. 4. The Pakistan Foreign Minister, Mr. Abdul Sattar, has urged India to enter into a tripartite dialogue to resolve the Kashmir dispute before the end of the Ramzan ceasefire on December 27. In a telephonic interview with the CNN, the Minister was quoted as saying that before this month and before India threatens to ``resume violence'' in the state, ``a trilateral process should begin''.

The Minister's position on tripartite dialogue is at variance with what the Pakistan Foreign Secretary, Mr. Inamul Haq, who had announced at a news conference the decision to exercise ``maximum restraint'' on the Line of Control.

Mr. Haq had said Pakistan would like the APHC to hold a separate dialogue with both India and Pakistan to facilitate the ground for a tripartite dialogue. The Foreign Secretary had urged India to utilise the ceasefire period to hold discussions with representatives of the APHC so that the process of tripartite dialogue could begin immediately after Ramzan.

Mr. Sattar told the CNN that ``Pakistan has taken a step and we would like to move forward towards a settlement of the Kashmir question in conformity with the wishes of Kashmiri people, so that all of us can find a settlement that will be acceptable to the Kashmiri people.''

In the course of another interview, with the BBC, the Minister denied the suggestion that Pakistan had ordered maximum restraint on the LoC under pressure from the international community and the decision had been taken after a thorough review.

On the statement of the Home Minister, Mr. L.K. Advani, that Pakistan should stop cross-border terrorism, Mr. Sattar said, ``Mr. Advani should visit graveyards in Indian Kashmir where he will not find the grave of any foreigner.''

In another development, the chairman of Jammu and Kashmir People's League, Muhammad Farooq Rehmani, welcomed the decision of Pakistan to observe maximum restraint on the LoC and said India should reciprocate by releasing all those under detention in Kashmir and start serious dialogue with Pakistan.

In a statement, the president of the Pakistan Muslim League(Q), Syed Kabir Ali Wasti, has welcomed Pakistan's ``policy of restraint'' and urged the APHC to wrest the initiative and play the role of a mediator between India and Pakistan for a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir tangle.

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