'Pak. crucial for talks'

By Vinay Kumar

NEW DELHI, MAY. 4. Maintaining that the involvement of Pakistan is crucial in finding an acceptable solution to the Kashmir problem, the Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party today said the Centre's invitation to all for talks to restore peace in the State had only ``created confusion''.

Claiming that Pakistan remained a party to the Kashmir dispute, geographically and historically, the two JKDFP office- bearers, Maulana Mohammad Abdul Tari and Mr. Saleem Geelani, wanted to know at what stage Pakistan would be involved in talks. The two met the Centre's designated negotiator, Mr. K.C. Pant, on Thursday and handed over a letter from the JKDFP president, Mr. Shabir Shah, seeking certain clarifications.

``We are waiting for the right response from Mr. Pant. If the response to our clarifications is positive, we will try to evolve a consensus in Kashmir,'' they said at a press conference here. A permanent solution could be found if the ``core issues'' were addressed and genuine representatives of the people of Jammu and Kashmir were involved in the talks. Bilateral talks had not yielded any result. ``We are not insisting that all the three parties - India, Pakistan and the people of Kashmir - should be at the negotiation table at the same time. The Government can even hold talks with Pakistan and the Kashmiri people separately,'' Maulana Tari said.

Commenting on their differences with the All-Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) which has rejected Mr. Pant's invitation for talks, Maulana Tari described them as ``only some minor differences''.

Mr. Shah's two-page letter to Mr. Pant stated that the JKDFP believed in ``a genuine political dialogue to find a lasting solution to the Kashmir issue''.

PTI reports:

Pant meets PM

Mr. Pant met the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee. Though the details of the unscheduled 30-minute meeting were not immediately known, informed sources said Mr. Vajpayee was briefed on the situation in the Valley, especially after the JKDFP seeking clarifications on certain issues on the talks offer.

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