Pak. sees movement towards dialogue

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, DEC. 23. The chief spokesman of the Pakistan military, Maj. Gen. Rashid Qureshi, today said that the recent initiatives of Pakistan, India and the Kashmiris suggested a movement towards the process of dialogue.

Talking to The Hindu, the Director- General of the Inter-Services Public Relations, Maj. Gen. Quereshi, said in the past few months there has been some progress by all the three parties - India, Pakistan and the All- Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) - involved in the Kashmir dispute.

``India, Pakistan and the APHC should get into a situation where talks would start regardless of what anyone is saying. If we are all genuine and dedicated to the reduction of tension, we should start dialogue immediately. The goodwill generated by the process of dialogue could help reduce the tension all around and pave the way for settlement of the differences,'' he said.

Maj. Gen. Qureshi said Pakistan has always been in favour of resumption of dialogue.

The ISPR chief said the first step taken by Gen. Musharraf was aimed at reduction of tensions and resolution of differences. ``India took some time to respond to the initiatives... The recent developments suggest that the movement towards dialogue seems to have started.''

Maj. Gen. Quereshi said Pakistan wanted to start a substantial initiative to create the necessary atmosphere for the process of dialogue to begin and the announcement made three days ago regarding partial withdrawal of forces from the Line of Control was part of the endeavour.

``The process of partial withdrawal of forces from the LoC is complete today.'' He said India should reciprocate the gesture and withdraw some of its troops in Kashmir..

On the negative response from some Pakistan- based militant organisations to the initiatives from India and Pakistan, Maj. Gen. Quereshi avoided a direct answer. He said there has been a mixed reaction from India to the militant organisations.

``When the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen announced a unilateral ceasefire in July, the response of the Indian Government was that they were our own boys and we have no hesitation in talking to them. The APHC has spoken in one voice. Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, Prof. Abdul Ghani Bhat and Mr. Abdul Ghani Lone have all contributed towards positive response to the recent initiatives.''

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