International

India adamant, says Sattar

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD April 21. Pakistan has accused India of undermining efforts to restore peace in the region by rejecting all initiatives to resume talks.

Terming Kashmir as the main hurdle in normalisation of ties, the Pakistan Foreign Minister, Abdul Sattar, has claimed that Islamabad made serious efforts to resolve the disputes through dialogue.

Addressing representatives of local bodies in Sialkot district of Punjab province as part of the campaign for the April 30 Presidential referendum, he alleged that New Delhi had been `adamant' in its attitude.

India had not reconciled itself to Pakistan being an independent state.

Later talking to journalists, Mr. Sattar said there was no `third option' for the settlement of the Kashmir issue and such talk was mere speculation by some intellectuals.

India had only one option on the issue and that was to keep the `held valley' under its control `by hook or by crook'.

He said the Pakistan Government was clear about the future of `held Kashmir' and no decision would be acceptable to Islamabad regarding its future without the active participation of the Kashmiris.

He said that in June 1998, the United Nations Security Council had recognised the Kashmir issue as the major cause of the rift between Pakistan and India.

During his India visit, the President, Pervez Musharraf, had told the Indian leadership that only a peaceful solution of the issue could guarantee peaceful, friendly and meaningful relations.

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