WASHINGTON: Ambassador Mahmud Ali Durrani
expressed “cautious optimism” here on Wednesday
about what he called a “slow but qualitative” improvement
in India-Pakistan relations.
Speaking at a meeting jointly organised by the Kashmiri-American
Council and the Pakistani-American Leadership Centre, a lobbying
group, to mark the Kashmir Solidarity Day and the ongoing
India-Pakistan peace process, the Pakistani envoy said given
the spirit of compromise and fair play, the two countries
could become very good friends, considering that they also
shared a common history, geography and culture. Only a movement
forward in relations between the two neighbours can resolve
the Kashmir issue, he said. He was of the opinion that there
were three strands in relation to the Kashmir problem: official
contact, back channel diplomacy away from the glare of publicity,
and people to people links. The back channel process is active,
he stated, and because of increased contact, the people of
India and Pakistan had rediscovered each other. Pakistanis
visiting India and Indians visiting Pakistan have only encountered
friendship and camaraderie. Speaking of his own visit to
East Punjab by road across Wagah, he said had the signs not
been in Gurmukhi, he would have thought himself to be still
in Pakistani Punjab.
Durrani said India should remove its excessive military
presence from Kashmir and human rights violations should
cease. He said Pakistan was prepared to demilitarise its
side of the Line of Control. What was needed, he stressed,
was greater political space for the Kashmiri people and the
continuation of an intra-Kashmiri dialogue, which would assist
the peace process. He said Pakistan had shown great flexibility
on Kashmir in an attempt to settle the issue and India needed
to do the same. “However, there is no serious indication
of any such flexibility on the part of New Delhi,” he
added. He stressed that the present opportunity to come to
terms on major outstanding disputes must not be missed because
it may not come again. Pakistan, he added, was ready to go
along. Today, he said, India had a comfortable relationship
with the United States, and Pakistan and Washington also
enjoyed good relations. While the US cannot force either
side, it can certainly be helpful.
Former US ambassador and author of several books on South
Asia, Dennis Kux, told the meeting that it had always been
hard to solve inter-state disputes and Kashmir would be no
exception. He felt that India and Pakistan might be edging
towards a basis for a compromise solution. He was of the
view that the composite dialogue and the step-by-step approach
that the two countries had adopted was the right way to go
about it. He noted that the ceasefire in Kashmir had held
and New Delhi and Islamabad had kept their composite dialogue
going. There has been some easing of the situation in Kashmir
on the part of India but “India can be less timid and
do more”. He said President Pervez Musharraf had dumped
the UN Security Council’s Kashmir resolutions and the
old demand for a plebiscite as a practical means of resolving
the issue. India, he pointed out, welcomed a “soft
borders” approach in Kashmir. India should also give
more on Siachin than it has. Once Siachin is out of the way,
the Sir Creek dispute can be next in line for a settlement.
He noted that India and China still had their main dispute
in place but had chosen a step-by-step approach. He felt
that India and Pakistan should follow the same lead. Until
1963, he noted, the US was very active in trying to bring
about a Kashmir settlement, but it had not done so since.
Until 1989, the US treated Kashmir as a bilateral dispute
between India and Pakistan, but after that it had included
the people of Jammu and Kashmir as the third party. He said
in 1999, President Clinton was “scared” that
the Kargil conflict might develop into a nuclear war. Kux
was of the view that Washington could be “a little
more pushy” with India and Pakistan as they slowly
moved towards an eventual settlement on Kashmir.
Story No. 24Punjab chief minister’s adviser Syed Mowahid
Hussain Shah told the meeting in an impassioned speech that
the peace process and the killings in Kashmir could not go
together. He said no peace formulas would work if the injustices
continued. Kashmir, he added, was a moral issue not a dispute
over real estate. Military force cannot conquer the people
of Kashmir. Their history shows that it was the Sufi saints
who conquered them through their message of love and brotherhood.
They also demonstrated that might is not right. He said it
should be remembered that state violence bred individual
and private group violence. India, he pointed out, had acted
with impunity in Kashmir. He cited the example of France,
which having declared Algeria an integral part of France
? as India has declared Kashmir to be an integral part of
India ? bowed to the wishes of the Algerian people and pulled
out, setting Algeria and its people free. India should realise
that force does not work in the end and it is the will of
the people that gains ultimate ascendancy. The current peace
process, he said, reflected the popular mood, but if no significant
progress was made, the mood would not last. He also warned
against an “elitist” approach in resolving the
Kashmir issue, stressing that “unless it resonates
on the street,” it would simply not work. India, he
said wanted to be a big power, but it might also acquire
a big heart. The solution of the Kashmir dispute must be
democratic, he stressed.
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