Date:19/12/2004 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2004/12/19/stories/2004121906800800.htm

National

`Government ready to allow more contact between Kashmiris'

By Amit Baruah

NEW DELHI, DEC. 18 . The Government is ready to allow greater contact between Kashmiris, including the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, living on either side of the Line of Control, informed government sources have said. They pointed out that the recent Pugwash conference in Kathmandu, Nepal, where Kashmiris from both sides of the LoC were present, had official government sanction.

They pointed out that Mirwaiz Umar Farooq recently held a meeting with the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, in Amsterdam. The Government also had no objections if Kashmiri leaders from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir wanted to visit India.

This dialogue among the Kashmiris was an effort to involve them in addressing the long-standing problem. Stressing that infiltration from across the LoC had come down, the sources ascribed this to the onset of winter, border fencing and more coordinated actions by the security forces. They also claimed that the Government of India was in "touch" with the Hurriyat.

Providing an assessment of the talks with Pakistan, they said that New Delhi and Islamabad should focus on the "doable" things such as opening cross-LoC and cross-border travel services while continuing to address the Kashmir issue.

U.S. arms sale

About India's concerns over the sale of sophisticated arms to Pakistan by the United States, the sources said during his recent visit, the U.S. Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, had been told that the Government did not want to "whine" about the arms package while voicing its concern. Mr. Rumsfeld was also told directly that the Americans also should not complain if India were to take remedial action.

Asked whether the Government had any information on Paresh Baruah, military chief of the United Liberation Front of Asom being seriously ill, as claimed by the ULFA chairman, Arabinda Rajkhowa, on Friday, the sources said that Mr. Baruah was "out of circulation." Also, the Government was in touch with ULFA through multiple channels.

To a question whether Mr. Baruah being out of circulation was related to the fact that the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, would be in Dhaka from January 8 for the SAARC summit, the sources said the capacity of Indian security agencies to protect the Prime Minister should not be underestimated.