The Hindu : `India should avoid military offensive'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Feb 25, 2002

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`India should avoid military offensive'

Kolkata Feb. 24 . India should avoid any military confrontation in settling the Kashmir issue and try to solve it by taking into consideration the aspirations of the people of the State, according to former Foreign Secretary, J.N. Dixit.

Addressing a seminar at the West Bengal Assembly today on `India-Pak. relations: dilemma and prospects,' he expressed the fear that any military confrontation could result in a nuclear assault.

Stating that the Kashmir issue, `perhaps,' could have been settled in 1971, he said that it ``should now be solved on some considerations, including aspirations of the people of the State.''

Pointing out that President Musharraf's international credibility had increased following his January 12 speech, the former Indian High Commissioner to Islamabad said that in the post-September 11 scenario, India should also guard against ``uninformed assessment'' of the U.S. response to Pakistan president's plea for third-party mediation on Jammu and Kashmir.

The tie-up between Pakistan and the U.S. during the war against terrorism in Afghanistan had been `mutually beneficial' to both countries, he said. _ PTI

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