Pak. orders `maximum restraint' along LoC

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, DEC. 2. Yielding to pressure from various quarters, particularly the United States, Pakistan today ordered its troops along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir to exercise ``maximum restraint'' and formally conveyed to India its willingness to enter into a ``meaningful dialogue'' to address the Kashmir conflict.

At a crowded press conference here, the Pakistani Foreign Secretary, Mr. Inamul Haq, read out a three-page statement containing Pakistan's response to the November 19 Indian initiative on Kashmir.

An invitation to the executive committee of the All- Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) to visit Islamabad for consultations, a plea to India to invite the APHC leaders for a similar purpose and to allow them to travel to Pakistan, are the other components of the formula unveiled in the press statement.

Tripartite talks

As Mr. Haq put it, Pakistan wants both India and Pakistan to utilise the Ramzan period (ending in the last week of December) to prepare the ground for a process of tripartite negotiations. It believes that permitting the APHC leaders to talk separately to the Indian and Pakistan Governments could pave the way for dialogue. ``We want the tripartite dialogue to begin immediately after Ramzan.''

It is believed that Mr. Haq formally invited the Indian High Commissioner, Mr. Vijay Nambiar, to the Foreign Office and conveyed to him the points made in the press statement.

Today's statement can undoubtedly be termed a positive response to the Indian initiative, though in effect it does not reflect any change in Pakistan's Kashmir policy. However, Pakistan has for the first time since the ceasefire announcement acknowledged the initiative as a small opening for resolution of the Kashmir dispute and resumption of dialogue stalled since May 1999.

Ifs and buts

Mr. Haq said the Pakistani response was meant to test ``India's sincerity'' and emphasised that there was no basic shift in Pakistan's policy. The statement was full of ifs and buts. On the ceasefire on LoC, Pakistan not only expects India to reciprocate but wants India to allow the United Nations Military Observers Group for India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to effectively monitor the situation. It said suspension of military operations in Kashmir would be meaningful only if it was combined with a purposeful dialogue; also, India should announce a permanent end to the ``policy of repression and violence, reduction of Indian forces, release all detainees and respect the fundamental rights of Kashmiris''.

``Pakistan is prepared to enter into a meaningful dialogue with India to address the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, correctly described by the United Nations Security Council as the root cause of tension between the two countries, as well as other disputes, in conformity with Security Council resolutions, principles of justice, international law and the past agreements between the two countries,'' the statement said.

The High Commissioner to Pakistan, Mr. Vijay K. Nambiar, is expected to visit New Delhi on December 5 for ``consultations'' on the ceasefire and the response from various quarters, including the Pakistan Government.

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