Date:25/11/2004 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2004/11/25/stories/2004112507730100.htm

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Not looking at territorial solutions: India

By Amit Baruah

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Shaukat Aziz at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on Wednesday. — AP

NEW DELHI, NOV. 24. India stressed today that it was not looking at "territorial solutions" to Jammu and Kashmir even as the Pakistan Prime Minister, Shaukat Aziz, said that the "essence" of the President, Pervez Musharraf's "proposals" was discussed as a "piece of information" with the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh.

Mr. Aziz, however, clarified that no proposals on Kashmir were presented to India and that the options listed for discussion by Gen. Musharraf were merely the basis for internal debate within Pakistan.

The Pakistani leader, who called on the President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, also met the Commerce Minister, Kamal Nath, and the Petroleum Minister, Mani Shankar Aiyar. He left for Pakistan after addressing a joint meeting of business associations.

Talks on bus service

The Foreign Secretary, Shyam Saran, echoed the views of Mr. Aziz that the modalities of the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service would be discussed in official-level talks on December 7-8.Differences persist on the travel documents to be used by the passengers of the bus service.

Mr. Saran announced that the two countries had agreed to establish banking relations. On the 45-minute "restricted" meeting between the two Prime Ministers and the delegation-level talks and the lunch that followed at Hyderabad House, Mr. Saran said the two sides discussed a number of proposals on how to push the SAARC process forward. Dr. Singh suggested that SAARC set up a "high economic council" comprising the Finance or Commerce Ministers.

To questions, Mr. Saran said that during his meeting with Mr. Aziz, Dr. Singh "very clearly recalled" the assurance given by Pakistan in the January 6 joint statement that its territory would not be used by terrorist elements against India.

`Willing to look at options'

Stressing that India was willing to look at various options on Kashmir, Mr. Saran maintained that these had to be based on the ground realities. India was willing to expand affinities across the Line of Control and the International Border.

India felt that Kashmir was a complex issue and involved a lot of emotions in both countries. Mr. Saran said there was a need to build trust and confidence. There was, however, no question of a second division of the country on religious lines. This the Prime Minister had made it clear publicly.

The confidence-building process was not a "deflection" from the Kashmir issue but was integral to looking at solutions to the problem. On the Hurriyat Conference leadership's desire to visit Pakistan, Mr. Saran said this would be considered when requests were made.

`Talks will go on'

Mr. Aziz, in an unscheduled interaction with presspersons, said the dialogue process would continue. Stating that Pakistan wanted peace with India, he said, "We need to work on our issues so that we reach a stage where we have sustainable peace... I am very hopeful that this will happen."

Referring to his "four-five" hour-long meetings with the Hurriyat factions last night, he maintained that the Hurriyat "represents a very important, key group of people in Kashmir." This, according to analysts, reflected a shift from the Pakistani position that the Hurriyat was the "sole" representative of the Kashmiri people.

"As regards the issue of Jammu and Kashmir, we believe that this is an issue we all need to address... Progress on other issues will be made in tandem with progress on the Jammu and Kashmir issue," he said at the lobby of the Taj Mahal Hotel. On the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service, Mr. Aziz said the issue of travel documents to be used was still to be addressed.

On the gas pipeline, Mr. Aziz said Pakistan had asked India to join this trans-national project. "However, if they [the Indian side] have other sources of energy, Pakistan is going ahead with this pipeline for its own use."

Manmohan invited

According to Mr. Saran, Dr. Singh had accepted an invitation from Mr. Aziz to visit Pakistan. Dates for the visit would be worked out through diplomatic channels even as the two leaders are likely to meet again in Dhaka in January on the sidelines of the SAARC summit. Also, the External Affairs Minister, Natwar Singh, would visit Islamabad in February.