Musharraf against permanence to LoC

By Kesava Menon

MANAMA (Bahrain), JULY 13. The Pakistan President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, has rejected any move to convert the Line of Control (LoC) into international border (IB) in Jammu and Kashmir, saying he is willing to discuss other issues concurrently but not at the expense of the Kashmir issue.

In an interview to Gulf News, Gen. Musharraf said he wanted India to at least acknowledge Kashmir as the main issue. He was willing to stay in India for another 48 hours if New Delhi was serious about resolving the dispute.

Describing the grant of permanence to the LoC as the problem and not the solution, Gen. Musharraf said it would be ``very unrealistic for any Indian leader to expect any leader of Pakistan to go and accept the permanence of the LoC''. While respecting the LoC was one thing accepting it as the permanent solution to the dispute was a different matter. The announcement of the former Prime Minister, Mr. Nawaz Sharif, in Washington on July 4, 1999 did not mean he or anyone else in Pakistan had accepted that the Kashmir dispute was over and that the LoC was made into the border. ``Nobody in Pakistan can accept this and hope to stay in power,'' the General said in a signal to his hosts for the next few days that he too had his limitations.

At another point, he, however, dubbed proposals such as the grant of permanence to the LoC, autonomy for the Kashmir Valley or trifurcation as matters to be taken up in a final solution. ``To discuss a solution that may be in itself contentious, we may not start talking at all. So why talk of solutions. Let us go step by step.'' The scope for some ambiguity also appeared in earlier remarks where he clarified what he meant when he said he would be flexible and then spoke of Kashmir as the core issue. ``I have never at all said I will be flexible on the issue to be discussed which is Kashmir. I have said that Kashmir is the only issue. Yes, I will be flexible on Kashmir, but I would like to clear this misperception, this misunderstanding. I have never said that flexibility will be shown on the issue to be discussed.''

On India's ``core'' issue - cross-border terrorism - Gen. Musharraf said he was not in total control over the jehadis and that the struggle in the Kashmir Valley was ``very, very'' indigenous. However, if there was progress on the Kashmir issue it would ``certainly have a sobering effect on the freedom struggle''.

Denying that the Pakistan Army had always derailed the process of reconciliation because it had a vested interest in making war, he said the people of Pakistan would not allow any reconciliation until the main conflict was resolved.

He also claimed that the Jamaat Islami and not the Army which stoned Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee's motorcade after the Lahore Declaration.

At the very minimum he was willing to accept India's acknowledgement of Kashmir being the main issue and for Agra to be the beginning of a step-by-step approach to peacemaking. ``We must also understand each other's compulsions. I would like to work to remove, to lessen the compulsions of the Indian leadership and they should work towards understanding and removing our compulsions.'' While he was willing to move concurrently on the other issues in dispute he would oppose continuation of discussions on other issues if the discussions on Kashmir got sidelined or dropped. He also did not expect India to start reducing its troop presence in Kashmir any time soon.

Stating that he viewed the end game as to do something that would improve the economic conditions in the subcontinent, Gen. Musharraf reiterated that he believed this could be done only by reducing tensions between the two countries. These tensions could not be reduced by resolving Sir Creek or Wullar Barrage but by resolving the Kashmir dispute.

`A historic moment'

PTI reports:

In another interview to India Today, Gen. Musharraf claimed that India and Pakistan had never got so close to permanent peace adding it was entirely upto him and Mr. Vajpayee to be accommodative of each other and be open- minded on the core issue of Kashmir during the summit.

``I certainly want him to see reality. I would request the people of India to see reality on the ground. We haven't fought wars for any other issue or dispute other than Kashmir.''

He said the summit was ``extremely important'' as ``we have never got so close to permanent peace... this is the historic moment for real peace to come.''

Asked about the danger if the talks failed, Gen. Musharraf said, ``well it would be a sad day for both the countries. It has created such a hype that the entire world is watching us.... we must not fail. We will only fail if we are not realistic.''

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