'India has to talk to Pak.'

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, DEC. 22 India has little option but to talk to Pakistan to resolve the Kashmir conflict, the Chief Executive, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, has said.

Talking to a group of newspaper editors at an Iftaar dinner he hosted last night, Gen. Musharraf said ``India is not sincere as it is not talking of the settlement of the Kashmir issue rather it wants to end tension''. In contrast, Pakistan was keen on resolving the long-pending dispute through a meaningful dialogue. ``Ultimately India has to talk to Pakistan''.

To a question, Gen. Musharraf said Pakistan's offer of ``tripartite talks'' on December 2 had made a good impact on the world community. ``It has been described by the world as a bold step and now all the pressure is on India.'' The Kargil episode had brought Kashmir into world focus and it had emerged as the flashpoint.

Pakistan wanted the All-Party Hurriyat Conference to participate in dialogue with India and Pakistan, he said adding the APHC team would be given a warm welcome here. He quoted the Indian Army Chief as saying that the Indian Army was tired of the situation in Kashmir and ruled out any threat to the nation's security as a result of the partial withdrawal of troops.

In a related development, the former Finance Minister, Dr. Mubashir Hasan, said India, Pakistan and the APHC had taken laudable steps to explore through dialogue possibilities of bringing peace to Kashmir. A window of opportunity had opened for Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, Gen. Musharraf and the leadership of Kashmir to achieve what leaders such as Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Ayub Khan and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto could not achieve.

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